There Was Supposed To Be A Forever
by xx myth master xx
Summary: "Suddenly, Myka can't breathe. She can't do this. She takes a step back, turns away and runs down the stone pathway and down the long winding road leaving her car and a stunned H.G. Wells behind." Where Myka is sick and everyone tries to save her, but can they in time? Bearing & Wells, of course. M rating chapter 13 onwards.
1. Chapter 1

**THERE WAS SUPPOSE TO BE A FOREVER**

**Okay so I promise this isn't going to be another Myka dies in Helena's arms story. Don't have anything planned out but one thing I can tell you Pyka does not exist nor will it ever, neither does anything past season 4. Enjoy!**

* * *

"I'm dying" she whispers in the room that she knows is occupied by only her and the doctor.

"I'm sorry, Agent Bearing"

Her eyes trailed to the pristine white floor, she nods ever so slightly. She looks up, her mouth inching to a small smile but her eyes tell a different story.

"I'd like for this to stay between us for the time being"

The doctor nods. "Myka, I want you to know that while the prognosis is bad there are options left. There are experimental trials I can look into. We can try chemo and radiation. We can do our best to buy you more time."

"Thank you, doctor" Myka smiles turning to the door.

* * *

The Warehouse is the same place as it was that morning. In the wake of the Paracelsus disaster Myka didn't bother anyone with the details of her ailment. She told Pete she was sick and despite his endless hounding for more details on the matter all she could say was 'I'm fine,' a line he was clearly not buying. No one else knew, no one else needed to.

"Myka, I've been looking for you! Artie wants us to take inventory of the section that was affected the most. Pete's already down there and I'll be there in a minute," Before Myka can leave Claudia stops her. She looks at her and Myka almost thinks Pete has told her, "Another day, another disaster averted. Am I right or what? Everything is a-okay!"

_I'm not._"Yeah. Back to normal, Claud. Or as normal as it can be around here" she manages a half-hearted laugh.

* * *

"You haven't told anyone right?" Myka asks Pete as she checks another item off the list.

"Are you going to tell me what the doctor said after the biopsy?"

"Pete"

"Myka"

"I'm fine"

"Ahan and I'll keep pretending like you are so long as I'm in the loop"

"There is no loop, Pete"

"You know what I mean"

"Everything is going to be fine"

"You know what, Myka! We have been through enough together for me to know when you are not fine. And this is not what fine looks like. I've given you your space. It's been two weeks and you're radio silent-"

"That isn't what radio silent means"

"Will you quit acting like everything is rainbows and daffodils?!" Pete yells.

Myka jumps back startled. Pete hardly ever raises his voice.

"Trouble in paradise?" Claudia quips from behind.

Myka wipes away the tear forming at the rim of her eye before turning.

"Claud, how long have you been standing there?"

Pete turns away and storms off.

"Just got here," she watches Pete turn at the cross-section "What crawled up his butt?"

"It's nothing"

* * *

"Artie, things have slowed down a bit so I was wondering if I could take the weekend."

"Yeah, yeah" Arties mumbles as he rifles through his bottomless bag.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yes, Myka, take the weekend" he says turning towards her, "Better yet, take the week"

* * *

Myka hasn't had a weeklong vacation in a while and if she didn't already know where she was going she wouldn't know what to do with all the time. As her hand presses down the button she can hear the bell ring inside the house in Wisconsin she never thought she would see again. The door swings open and she is greeted by a woman she has never quite understood and yet is everything she has ever wanted.

The woman across her smiles and comes forward to hug her. Suddenly, Myka can't breathe. She can't do this. She takes a step back, turns away and runs down the stone pathway and down the long winding road leaving her car and a stunned H.G. Wells behind.

* * *

"Hello, Claudia?"

"H. G.!"

"Yes, it's me"

"How are you? It's been ages!"

Helena cuts right down to the chase. "I don't quite know how to say this, but Myka was here," Her eyebrows curl in confusion, "and then she wasn't."

Claudia puts down the file in her hand and switches the phone over to her favored hand. "What do you mean? Like did she vanish like an artifact or were you hallucinating? Why would Myka be there anyway?"

There is a silence that rings loud with the buzzing of the static.

"Right, forget the last question"

"Claudia, she was at my front door and then she ran down the street"

"When you say ran…"

"I mean literally _ran_!"

"So back to that question, why is she in Wisconsin?"

"I assumed you would know"

"Uhh… Well you guys were never- I didn't want to assume- I mean it wasn't official- I ahem- There was never… I should probably stop now" Claudia fumbles for words.

Helena's cheeks color as she shakes her head. "Please do." She bites back a chuckle as she continues "I meant is she here on anything Warehouse related?"

"Oh right! Of course you did. Not that I know of. We've been pretty quite since the Paracelsus thing"

"Oh…"

* * *

"So H. G. called, Myka went to see her and then ran away. I mean literally she ran away and down the street" Claudia does her best not to laugh but a giggle escapes anyway. "Those two!"

"Why is Myka in Wisconsin?" Pete asks through mouthfuls.

Claudia raises her eyebrows as if to impart the words that have yet remained unsaid at the Warehouse and the B n' B.

"No I mean, why wouldn't she just tell us"

Claudia tilts her head, her mouth lifts at one corner and her eyebrows speak again for her.

"You're right" Pete gets up finishing the last of his burger "Good talk, Claud"

* * *

**On a side note: Remember that time Myka left the Warehouse after the thing with Helena at Yellowstone and she wrote that letter where she called Pete the big brother she never had? Did they forget about that or did she get whammied and the knocked over the head and then whammied again? I mean whatever that they didn't do Bearing and Wells but Pyka? I cringe! **

**Anyway *tucks away rightful rage at Pyka*… I hope you enjoyed reading. I'll be updating soon-ish.**


	2. Chapter 2

Pete throws in whatever he can get his hands on into the duffel bag sitting on his bed. His room is a mess but that isn't unusual, after all it is the Pete cave. He doesn't flinch when something clatters to the ground after he throws a pair of jeans that smells like something crawled in it and died across the room. He doesn't bat an eyelid when Claudia walks in with a bag strapped to her back, already booking their tickets on the phone.

"So how much did you really hear?" he asks trying to shut his closet and giving up when an avalanche of clothing tumbles down.

"Something about a biopsy and Myka being fine,"

"She did say she was fine,"

"And since when has fine ever meant fine?"

* * *

The plane ride is the longest Pete has ever taken, and he has travelled across the world hunting down artifacts. The silence that stretches across the few inches of space between him and Claudia holds all their fears, all their questions and the weight of it all feels like it could sink the plane.

"Cancer?" Claudia asks for the hundredth time since Pete told her all he knew.

Pete doesn't reply anymore. He's trying to think of all the places Myka could be, trying to ignore all the worst case scenarios running through his head and failing horribly at both.

"Ovarian cancer? So what they'll get the tumor, maybe they'll have to remove her ovaries and then some chemo, maybe radiation? And then she's in the clear... Right? Pete?"

He knows Claudia is just asking questions to quell her own fear but he wishes she would just give him a moment of silence.

"Why isn't she in the hospital, Pete? Why isn't she getting help? She should be getting help"

Claudia can't breathe anymore. Her fear has expanded filling every crevice of her body leaving no room for air. A large neon sign blaring 'CANCER! CANCER! CANCER!' flashes in her head and for a second she wishes for the sweet relief of the meds from the institution that used to be her greatest fear.

"Pete, I don't want to lose Myka"

And just like that she has voiced both their greatest fears.

She wishes Myka had trusted her enough to tell her on her own but then again maybe Myka's fear overtook everything, maybe her need to protect outweighed her want to share with the people she trusted most; her family.

"Maybe it isn't that bad, maybe the results were good and she decided to see H. G. because she was happy and realized life is too short" she tries consoling herself, "or maybe it's so bad she decided to see H. G. one final time letting go of all the history. Maybe she's dying Pete…"

Claudia fails at keeping the tears at bay. Myka is her family, she can't lose her, she has already lost too much.

* * *

"Helena," Pete nods at the woman waiting in the scorching heat by the SUV in her driveway.

"Pete," she nods back "Claudia"

Claudia doesn't bother with any small talk. "So you say she ran down your driveway?"

"Down there" Helena points.

"Do you have any idea why?" Pete asks looking for clues in the car.

"Not one, I'm afraid"

"Did she say anything?"

"She didn't say a word, Pete" This time Helena turns away unable to keep her tears at bay.

All she can really do is wonder if Myka hates her, if she was there to tell her she hated her for walking away when they could have had so much, if she felt abandoned by her actions, if she felt betrayed that after everything they had been through Helena could simply settle down with someone else and play house.

Helena wants more than anything to tell Myka that she would have dropped the Emily Lake at a single request from Myka and all she needed to do was ask, just once if she would have asked, just once was all it would have taken. She wants to explain to her that all she wanted was her but her fear got the better of her. And now she is afraid that she may never get the opportunity again, that her greatest love has been lost in vain.

Helena wants Myka to know that when she goes to bed at night her entire body aches for her touch and burns with the memory of that one stolen kiss between the aisles she will never forget at Warehouse 13. She wishes that just once she would have told Myka how much she loved her and that it was that love that terrified her because it was all consuming and the last time she lost someone she loved so dearly the price paid was grave.

**Okay so no Myka this chapter… Let's see where this is going because I much like you am just going with the flow :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Helena asks Pete and Claudia to let her deal with Myka, she isn't even sure why they're here in the first place. She wonders who is holding down the fort back at the Warehouse if three of its agents are in Wisconsin. After a short debate Helena manages to convince them to go back to their hotel rooms, she assures them that the moment she knows where Myka is, they will too. But when she does find the woman at a bar she would never have gone to otherwise she walks in alone, she does not want Pete or Claudia to witness this.

"Does getting _hammered_ feel better than talking to me?" Helena settles down on the bar stool besides Myka.

"Bartender! Refill!"

Helena waits for the bartender to serve Myka another vodka tonic and by the looks of the woman sitting next to her she guesses there have been at few of those already.

"I'll have the same"

He places the drink before her but Helena makes no motion to drink it.

"Myka, why are you here"

Myka's head spins to face her, her eyes glare at Helena.

"Why?" her voice is barely a whisper, "Why would you love me? Why, Myka, I don't understand"

Myka ignores her please and gulps down her drink.

"Did you know I had an abortion back in college? I didn't want to have kids then, I didn't want a kid getting in the way of my career. Couldn't let that happen, now could we. And now, puff!"

"I always thought the warehouse would kill me I never stopped to realize I could kill myself, slowly, painfully, from the inside out." Her mouth spreads wide into a smile that only shows her pain.

"I-" Myka cuts Helena off before she can even start to form a sentence.

"I never really fell in love with anyone before Sam and then he died and I thought I would never feel like that again. And I suppose I was right because I did fall in love but it was nothing like Sam. And I wish I hadn't. I wish to a god I don't believe in that I didn't, Helena. I don't want to feel like this. I hate feeling like this. I hate it! I hate you."

"I've never wanted to die as much as the day I found out about you and Nate. I wish you have pulled the trigger. So many times I've been at the other end of the barrel from you, I just wish you would've finished all this... All this pain. I don't want to feel like this anymore, Helena. You can't just kiss somebody like that and just walk away, start a new life, a new family, be with some man you barely know. Some man over me? You don't get to do that! You're good at destroying things aren't you? You think you could go back to the _good_ old days once more and just god dam kill me?!" Myka spits out with all the venom she can muster in her inebriated state.

Helena tries not to flinch as each word digs its way through and slaps her. She tries to ignore the pounding of her heart as the depth of Myka's hate settles in with every word. She had considered the possibility of this woman hating her but she never quite realized the degree of pain she had caused her. And while half the things Myka said failed the register meaning Helena knew something was awfully wrong.

"Myka!" she exclaims when she realizes the woman before her has been reduced to tears, tears of fury, but nonetheless tears. She herself feels the moisture trickling down her cheeks.

The hate and anger seeps in between them sucking away all the air. Both these woman are strong, they do not cry even when their emotions threaten to unleash a storm tears have never been the way.

"Could you ever forgive me?"

"I don't know how" Myka's voice is small as if she is tired and just wants it to end.

Helena starts to leave but turns around to settle the one question nagging her at the back of her head.

"Myka, can I ask you something? "

Myka doesn't make a move.

"If you hate me so much why did you come back?"

Myka doesn't look at Helena but she does take all that pent up rage and pulls in the woman, their lips smashing together bruising each other. Myka's nails dig into the back of Helena's neck tearing away skin and the moment is over as abruptly as it began.

"Now we're even" she spits out before putting some cash down, getting up and leaving.

Helena stands stunned by the bar sucking the blood off her split lip. She takes the drink waiting for her and chugs it down feeling it burn down her throat.

**Doing my best to keep them in character, this is how I assume they would react if the circumstances presented themselves. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the delay, I had it written I just didn't have time to edit. Anyway this is just a bunch of PetexMyka (not Pyka!). Have fun!**

"Mykes... Myka... Hey steady there. Since when do you get drunk off your ass?"

Myka stumbles and Pete steadies her placing his hands on her shoulders. Pete found Myka at a hotel not far from where he was staying for the night and after a short conversation with Helena he quickly made his way over only to find Myka arguing with a man trying to get him to give her a new key card. Pete leads them back to Myka's room and swipes the key card he got at the reception after flashing his badge.

Myka settles down onto the plush chair while Pete sits at the edge of the bed rubbing his hands together like he's going to do something he would much rather not.

"Okay so I have to say something but this conversation never happened, which probably shouldn't be that hard considering you'll forget everything in the morning. Also can you just not look at me like that?"

"Like what?" Myka slurs.

"Like I killed your puppy and served him to you for dinner!"

"Pete!"

"Okay so here goes nothing. Myka I haven't exactly been on team H.G. but I do see the looks you guys pass and let's just say there's a fire burning there. Let me just say when I first realized I thought you were insane maybe lady cuckoo there had you under the influence of an artifact but I see the way you look at her and I see how you've been beating yourself up about it and Myka you're my partner and I love you and I hate to watch you suffer because you love somebody. And given it's a woman and not just that but it's a woman who has time and time again proven to be a psychopath capable of ending the world as we know it but you know what you're the chink in her armor. She is a woman who has been through a lot and she has walls built over a century of hatred and anger that festered while she was in the bronze and for you Myka she brought them down. I know she hurt you, she betrayed all of us just when she became a part of our family and that sucked but you shouldn't give up if you love her. Besides if you're afraid I can always watch when you get together to make sure she doesn't try anything."

"I'm sure you would love that"

Pete smirks.

"Yeah I kindda would. Maybe I could bring Steve along, though it wouldn't do much for him" he shrugs.

A silence settles in where Myka almost drifts asleep.

"So do you love her?"

She doesn't answer for a while even though it isn't really a question to begin with, all that's left is to voice the feeling that set her on self-destruct in the first place. "I do." Her voice is barely a whisper but she has let go of years of emotions tucked away with stolen glances and snuffed out passion. The two words she has just said are everything that has threatened to tear down her world and yet they are the two words she cannot escape from. Despite all her failed attempts at hating the woman she cannot help but love her.

Pete nods. "Okay so what's the problem?"

"It's not that simple, Pete" Myka has no idea if she will remember this talk in the morning, she can barely keep track of the words as they leave her mouth.

"Looks pretty simple to me, Myka. In our line of work we're lucky to find someone, especially someone who knows everything and isn't afraid. I mean I had Kelly, I thought she was the one and once she knew she was gone. Let's face it if not her I'm your only other option and can I just say eew!"

"Pete!"

"I'm just saying, not that I wouldn't make the sacrifice for you." He shrugs with an exaggerated gesture.

"Oh, the sacrifice! How could I ever repay you?" Myka bats her eyelashes.

"Well luckily you'll never have to. Talk to your lady love. Make up. Let me watch. Easy peasy"


	5. Chapter 5

**So this is the edited version because I realized I was writing Helena as a really passive character and that is not H.G. Wells.**

Waking up next to Pete, Myka rubs her throbbing head and tries to remember what happened the night before. Memories come in bits and pieces and she is relieved to know that both she and Pete are fully clothed, even if they are under the same covers. She remembers talking to Helena. Well, talking _at _Helena but that conversation is bleary much like the rest of the night. What she doesn't remember is meeting Pete, why is he in Wisconsin anyway?

Myka nudges the man sleeping in her bed and after a few minutes of grumbling Pete finally comes awake.

"Well, look at you, sunshine" he says his voice tired and half sleep.

"What are you doing here?" she demands with a raised eyebrow.

Pete turns to the side table and grabs the aspirin and bottle of water he put down there after Myka fell asleep.

"You'll want this"

"Thanks" She accepts it before returning to her previous question, "So what are you doing here, Pete?"

"You've had a rough night"

"So it seems"

"You had a blowout with H.G. after which she called me and I came to your rescue just in time, by the looks of it you would have bitten off the receptionists head if I hadn't gotten to you in the nick of time. And she's a pretty one. I'll have to get her number. Remind me to do that."

"That still doesn't explain why you're here"

"Oh you mean here as in Nowhere, Wisconsin as in the place where your psychotic kind of ex-girlfriend lives as in the place you ran to and then ran away from completely freaking me out mind you!"

"Okay one, she was never my girlfriend and never will be. Two, did she call you?"

"Yes she called Claudia. And about the girlfriend bit, we've been over that last night but you, drunkey, probably don't remember a single word of it"

Myka raises her eyebrows inquiring further.

"You looove her" Pete mocks making googly eyes, "And you promised to let me watch"

Myka's cheeks color, embarrassed. "What? No! I never said that. I do not love her. And Pete, grow up"

Pete smirks. "You're meeting her at one for lunch"

"What? I don't remember agreeing to that!"

"Yeah, and how much do you remember exactly?"

"Wait, Claudia is here?"

"Yes, she's at a hotel a couple of blocks over"

"Oh" Myka doesn't want to ask the next question because she already knows the answer "Does she know, Pete?"

"Yes"

"Did you tell her?"

"I would never, Myka. I said I wouldn't and I didn't"

"So she did hear us then?"

"She's a sneaky little one. Speaking of, what went down between you and Lady Cuckoo last night? You were wasted!"

Myka bites her lip. "I yelled at her"

"Oh?" He waits for her to go on.

"I said things"

"So she knows then?"

A flash of confusion crosses her face before she remembers what triggered her to come here in the first place.

"No"

Pete finally lets go of his light-hearted mocking and banter and allows his fear to come forth.

"Myka, please just tell me how bad it is"

"Bad"

"As in it looks pretty bad so you'll have to take more time off than expected but you'll be just dandy?"

"No, Pete"

He takes a hint and doesn't inquire any further. He can probe her about the prognosis later, for now she doesn't want to talk about it and he doesn't push.

"Is that why you're here?"

"Yes"

"I'm here for you, whatever you need. You know that right?"

"Thanks, Pete"

"Do you want me to be there when you tell her?"

"No, I have to do this on my own"

"Myka, before you go, I just- don't push her away just because you're afraid"

"Jeez Pete, sappy much?" she tries to break the tension and avoid the issue she is going to have to deal with soon enough.

Pete doesn't say anything else, he is afraid that if he will he won't be able to hold back the tears that are clouding his eyes. Without thinking he grabs Myka and pulls her in for a hug. Startled for a moment Myka is taken aback but gives in to the embrace allowing tears to fall down her cheeks.

"I can't lose you, Mykes. We're supposed to go out together? Don't you go back on your word"

"I don't want to die, Pete"

"Don't worry we'll find a way. Endless wonder, remember? There has got to be something that can cure you"

"What if there isn't?"

* * *

Myka meets Helena at the place Pete setup for them to meet at. She finds the older woman already waiting at a secluded table. Helena doesn't meet her eye when she sits down across her, she doesn't know if she ever will be able to.

"Helena"

"Myka"

The silence that creeps in is cold and almost makes both women shiver. They are both afraid that the weight of the words said in Myka's drunken haze has cracked what is left of their relationship beyond repair. They both stay as still as possible and if they could they wouldn't breathe for the fear of breaking what little that is left between them.

"Are you quite alright, Myka? You said some things last night…" Helena is the first to break the stillness.

Myka waits to consider this, she does not want to lay it all on her, after all they haven't talked in a long time. She isn't even sure if they are still friends, only she is. They were never friends, always more.

"Myka?"

"No," she finally says and upon seeing Helena's alarmed face she continues "But that isn't important for now. Helena, I know I said hateful things last night. It would be a lie to say that I didn't mean them because every word is true. But I've decided to let go of that. I have hated you for so long now I forgot how much you meant to me- mean to me. It was your choice to leave. It was your choice to start a new life, I can understand that. At least, I can try. You were never my girlfriend, we were never together, all we had was one kiss and that doesn't give me the right to hold leaving against you, no matter how much it hurt" her voice drops at the last bit.

"It is wrong to say that there was nothing between us, Myka darling. There was so much that I was terrified of being consumed in it. I am not too proud to admit that I was scared that you would not reciprocate the feelings I had toward you."

Myka laughs dryly. "Helena, I don't know what else I could have done to show you how I felt. If that's your reason then you're not just lying to me, you're lying to yourself"

"Maybe I am and really I don't know what to say to that except Myka, I am sorry. I just wanted to get away from the Warehouse, from that life. In that place I was H.G. Wells woman from the past with no place in the future, H.G. Wells traitor to the warehouse, woman to tried to destroy the world and bring about an ice age because she could not deal with the pain. I just wanted to be someone else so I could stop being the woman who held a gun to your head, maybe that was the worst crime I have committed."

"I don't really know why I came here. Well, I suppose I do. But Helena, you need to stop being a martyr. That isn't the woman I feel in love with. The woman I remember is brilliant and feisty and crazy and beautiful"

Helena tilts her head as if considering what Myka just said while biting back a smile. "Yes, that she very much is"

"Well I'm glad I left out modest"

"Well, darling modesty is a trait for the trite"

"And that is something you are most definitely not"

"So Myka, what brings you here"

"Maybe this was bad idea"

"Nonsense. I am glad you are here regardless of last night but I am glad that you got it off your chest"

"You have a life here, you are happy, you are happy, right?"

"I have a wonderful partner and a beautiful little girl. I go to work. I talk to people. You'd think that would be enough for a woman who has been alive for over a century."

"That doesn't answer my question"

"No it doesn't"

"I want you to be happy, even though I said things before, that's I really want. It's all I've ever wanted. It just hurt that I wasn't the one to make you happy"

"Who says you weren't, love. Maybe it was me who did not deserve you"

"And yet you're the one who left"

"So I did"

"I am not here to disrupt your life, Helena. You deserve to be with someone who can be there for you for a long time to come and that's more than I can say for myself"

"Myka darling, you're worrying me. What's wrong?"

Myka smiles. She has missed the woman sitting across her and more than she ever realized. Helena is the only person Myka can surrender herself to, no matter their history Helena's British charm still makes Myka weak in the knees.

"I'm sick"

Helena's face contorts with shock.

"Dying really"

She sucks in a sharp breath.

"What?" she attempts at a laugh but fails, surely this is some kind of joke. Myka's way of getting back at her?

"Cancer. Ovarian. Well, it started out as that. It's everywhere now really" Myka is still smiling but it doesn't meet her eyes, she does her best not to cry but tears slip out anyway and she quickly wipes them away.

Helena shakes her head refusing to believe it.

"No, but that's silly! I was supposed to come back to you. We were supposed to be happy. There was supposed to be a forever."

**Okay I need advice. Is this still a good storyline?**


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

**So sorry about the insanely long delay, I was busy with a few school projects and stuff. But I'm going to update faster now. **

The waiter brings along a lingering silence that stretches out and wraps itself around them leaving no room to breathe. His perky smile wears out with the tick of the clock but neither woman looks away from the other. He tilts his head and turns away. Myka moves to hold Helena's hand but she pulls it away.

Helena's breathing is controlled. Her posture is constrained. Her face is blank.

Cancer?

Her mind is still processing what this means. Surely, Myka is exaggerating the prognosis. It can't possibly be that bad. She just saw her. Helena pauses to think how long it has been since their last meeting. She can't quite pinpoint the time frame but she is sure it hasn't been all that long and Myka seemed perfectly alright then. But then again Myka seems perfect even now, besides the telltale signs of a hangover and a late night out. And the circles beneath her eyes. And the pale color of her skin just slight enough that she had not noticed it before now. And the tremor in her hand when she flexes it open and close. And her clothes already hanging looser. It shouldn't be happening so soon.

It is Myka who breaks the stillness. She gets up and gestures for Helena to follow. Once they are outside alone in the parking lot with the sun scathing and high in the sky Myka takes Helena's hand and pushes her up against her car.

"I love you, Helena" Myka entangles her fingers with Helena's.

Despite the shock of it all Helena moves in and kisses her. It has been so long since she has tasted those lips but she hasn't forgotten. Her hands make their way to Myka's waist, her back and then Myka pulls away. Helena pauses stunned. Was this some ruse?

"We are not doing this in a parking lot,"

Helena nods.

They get into Myka's car. The road to the hotel isn't really all that long but Helena has a lot on her mind. She has lost her sense of time as the overwhelming feeling of impending doom finally comes crashing in.

"Are you dying, Myka?" Her words are a whisper, unsure if they want an answer.

The car comes to a halt at the red light.

"Aren't we all?" Myka chuckles half-heartedly.

Helena doesn't take her eyes away from the woman in the driving seat. Myka tries to ignore the stare but fails.

"Yes," her voice is raspy filled with unshed tears "I'm dying"

Helena doesn't miss a beat. "Then we are going to the Warehouse"

The light turns green but Myka doesn't press down on the paddle. She wasn't looking to be saved; she just wants to make the most of what she has left. The horns blare from the cars trying to overtake her but Myka remains still.

* * *

Myka is the only one sitting the hotel room with three pacing people.

She watches Pete switch between talking to Claudia and whispering with Helena. It seems her infliction has brought those two closer. At least it's doing something besides eating away at her insides.

Claudia nods at Pete and types something into her phone then looks out the window for a while. She seems lost. Afraid. Myka hasn't talked to her yet. All she knows is what she has overheard and what Pete has filled her in on.

Helena discusses options with Pete and debates the merits and drawbacks of different artifacts with Claudia. She leaves the room in frustration and when she returns Myka can see the bruise on her left knuckles.

They all ignore her; pretend that is she isn't in the room. This is what she was afraid of. She never wanted to be the victim and yet here she is sitting, waiting patiently.

When their pacing and whispering takes its toll Myka claps her hands together loudly. She has their attention.

"I am here you know,"

They all wait for her to continue.

"I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want this. This is exactly what I was afraid of. You are acting like the world is ending but it isn't. We've already seen that quite a few times, some of us have even caused it," she looks at Helena who's cheeks turn red "and this isn't what it looks like. There is nothing to be done. I want to spend the time I have left with you and my family and not like this on a perpetual wild goose chase. There is no wild goose," Myka doesn't hold back the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I will die and I will die soon"

Pete turns away. His eyes are red and Myka's words have confirmed all his worst fears. There is no cure.

Claudia had hoped that it wasn't as bad as she had assumed but this was it. The woman she had looked up to and confided in for so long was fading and there was nothing they could think of to save her.

Helena shook her head. "No, we have to go to the Warehouse. We will talk to Arthur, Mrs. Fredrick even the Regents if need be but I am not losing you. I am not going to let you die on me. We will get your medical records and Dr. Calder with take a look at them and see what she can do. In the mean time, we will all search for an artifact that can help and you can go talk to your parents and your sister. And once you are back you will keep fighting until we find you a cure"

**You can expect the next update within the week. Sorry again for taking ages. **


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

**As promised. Here is the next chapter.**

Myka spends the next few days in her hotel room with Helena while Pete and Claudia return to the Warehouse. She tries to put it off for as long as she can but eventually Myka has to fly out to Denver. Helena decides to go to the Warehouse and Myka needs to tell her parents and Tracy and that is not something she wants to do over the phone.

Myka had almost asked Helena to come along with her but the British woman's incessant hovering would have worn her out even more. Myka tries to pretend that nothing is different but inevitably has to admit that she can't keep up with the fast paced nature of Warehouse 13.

Leaving the airport, Myka is already weary. She wonders if she would have felt it if she had not known yet. But now that she does every waking moment is intruded with its rude presence and even most nights are clouded with nightmares that won't quit.

The Bearing household is the same as she remembers it. She pauses outside, her revelation will change everything. Her father much like the Warehouse team with fuss over the potential cures that they all know do not exist. Her mother will cry about parents not having to bury their children. Myka almost shudders at the drama. Maybe it hasn't quite sunk in.

"Myka!" Jeannie Bearing throws her arms around her daughter as she steps over the threshold. "It's been so long, you should visit more often. Oh, look at you, so skinny. Aren't they feeding you there in South Dakota?" she trails on as she leads Myka into the living room.

"Jeannie, give the girl some room to breathe," Warren looks at his daughter. She does look skinny.

"What brings you here, Myka?"

"Why, can't a girl visit her parents without a reason?" Jeannie cuts in.

"Actually, I do have something to tell you," Myka finally speaks up, "But I'd rather wait for Tracy"

Her father looks at her confused.

"Oh, I asked her to come over, I can't keeping doing this over and over"

"Myka is everything alright?" He asks.

Myka gives him a short smile and nods.

Tracy arrives shortly after her mother manages to overstuff her with lunch. As her family settles around the coffee table Myka paces back and forth. This is it. There is where she does it.

The clock ticks loudly in the silence that is wearing her father's patience thin. Myka doesn't know how to start, or where. When she finally finds the words her voice is weak and throaty, almost unwilling to come out.

"I'm sick,"

No one says anything. They wait for her to go on.

"I have cancer," She sees the shock register on their faces but continues. She wants to get it over with. "It's too far gone to treat, I have excellent doctors who are looking for experimental trials but I don't want that. I don't want to be sicker and prolong the inevitable before I finally die"

And there it is. She has laid it all out. Myka leaves the room to get a glass of water. Die. The initial shock has worn off. Everyone knows now. She is going to die. Her days are numbered. Myka tries to gulp down the water but instead has to spit it into the sink where she stands dry heaving with tears slipping away.

Her mother comes up from behind and pulls her into an embrace. Myka lets go. She cries into her mother's arms both woman allowing the tears to run freely.

When they return to the living room Myka's eyes are dry her face washed clean. Her father's forehead is etched with a frown. Tracy is still in shock, sitting stunned. Her mother keeps crying.

"You're my little girl, you can't be dying" The look in the woman's eyes makes Myka want to almost lie and say it isn't true.

"What have the doctors said? What are their names?" He doesn't wait for her to reply, "What stage is it? What type?"

"It started out as ovarian, now it has progressed. There is no miracle cure." Myka's voice is controlled.

Tracy gets up and hugs her sister. She squeezes tight and doesn't let go, maybe she is afraid to.

After several rounds of questions and even more tears Myka is finally allowed to retreat to her room. She falls back on the bed and pulls out her phone.

"Hello, darling" The voice on the other side is all that she needs right now.

"I miss you"

"Come home soon then"

Myka chuckles.

"You're already calling it home"

"Once you're alright you are going to marry me and we are going to find a cozy little place right here in the middle of nowhere and we fill it up with joy and laughter until we are both old and it is our time to go"

Myka smiles at the possibility but it is laced with the bitter edge of truth, this is never going to happen and the sooner Helena accepts it the better it will be for both and them and the potential fate of the world as they know it. No matter how much she loves the other woman Myka cannot forget her tendency to take her pain and cast it outward.

Myka pauses. "Wait, did you just propose to me? On the phone?"

Helena's laughter fills her up with a warm feeling.

"No, love. The proposal is going to be grand. Nothing short of what you deserve"

**Thoughts?**


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

**So this is a short one but my laptop keyboard is broken so it's hard to type. Next one shall be longer.**

When Myka mentions leaving Denver to return to the Warehouse Warren Bearing strikes up a storm that almost makes Myka relent.

"You should be home with your family"

"You can't work, you're sick"

"You need rest"

These are all statements that keep being repeated as if Myka does not understand them. She tries to explain that the Warehouse is her home and everyone there is her family, but she does not know how to find the words without hurting their feelings.

Myka does not intend to stop working. It is who she is and she is not prepared to stop being it just yet. She cannot be less of who she is. The foreign thing taking over her insides have already claimed the rest of her life, she will not give this up. But no matter how much she wants things to stay the same, Myka cannot help but admit that it is slowing her down, wearing her out slowly, making her fade away until she will remain a shell of her own being. Maybe she does need rest, but she can get that at the Warehouse as well, right?

Myka remains firm in her decision to leave. She walks down the staircase lugging her bag behind her. Her parents cry, even Warren and she feels bad but she needs to go home now. They insist on coming to her and they reach an understanding where they can come over the moment she starts treatment or gets worse. Little do they know Myka does not intend to ever start treatment.

When she gets back to the B&amp;B her room has signs of another inhabitant; books on the bedside table, papers strewn all over the bed, stacks of research on the floor by the dresser, clothes in the distinct taste of a certain British woman lain out ready to be worn. Myka can hear the shower running and she can't help but smile.

She puts down her bag and silently steps into the bathroom slipping off her clothes one by one. When she pulls the shower curtain open and slips her hands onto the other woman's waist she gets a reaction she does not expect. Helena jerks back startled and almost throws Myka out of the bathtub.

"Myka!" she exclaims turning around.

When her initial shock fades she licks her lips looking the grinning agent up and down.

"Somehow I expected this to be more romantic," Myka muses.

Helena grabs her with the ferocity of someone who wants to claim each and every part of her with urgent need and their lips crash together.

**I'm new to writing fluff, so any criticisms are welcome. Does this even count as fluff….**


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

**This chapter has a bit of medical stuff which I have done my best to get right, but if I've gotten something wrong feel free to point it out.**

The next days are the hardest. Myka is cornered with Helena's incessant nagging to start the usual treatment routes, Pete's hovering and questions about when she plans to go to the hospital and her parent's endless phone calls about the status of her health. Everyone wants to know what she is going to do next. Everyone hangs just at the edge of her vision.

Pete cracks fewer jokes. Claudia is less vibrant. Steve tries his best to be helpful. Even Artie is not like himself. They all treat her like she is suddenly fragile. That if they speak too loud she might break or die. Everyone except Helena. Helena pushes her, she is stubborn. She wants what she wants and that is Myka, alive and well. And she is going to do everyone in her power to make sure that happens.

The B&amp;B is littered with stacks of research and treatment options. Every spare minutes between hunting artifacts is dedicated to saving Myka. Sleep is a concept that does not exist anymore.

After the scans and the tests comes back, the team's spirit wavers for a bit. It has spread beyond her abdomen and is in her liver. It is attacking her lungs. Nowhere inside her is safe. Myka is expected to set an appointment for a hysterectomy which will be followed by twenty-one days of rigorous chemotherapy.

Myka lies on the couch waiting for Helena to bring her some tea. When Helena comes into the living room she looks over at the woman smiling at her and she smiles back. She never mentions how the once mighty agent looks small and frail. She stays tough. She cannot afford to waste precious time breaking down. There is nothing to break down for, Myka is going to be fine.

Helena hands Myka the cup and settles down beside her.

"You look like you finally got some sleep," Myka sips the tea.

"I did"

"Good, you look worse than me and I'm the sick one"

"Myka, you need to go to the hospital. You need to try. Don't make me lose you without a fight. I can't Myka, I can't" Helena holds onto Myka's hand squeezing it tight.

Myka can see the terror clearly etched on Helena's face. Myka may have accepted her fate as one that is inevitable but she realizes that Helena cannot.

"Alright," she whispers.

Helena looks up at her, her eyes wide with surprise.

"Alright?"

"Alright"

/

Pete, Claudia and Helena take Myka to the hospital the next day. They move things along as fast as possible lest Myka change her mind. Artie and Steve stay back to hold down the fort.

They get her checked in and find the best doctors possible. Pete and Helena hound Dr. Wilder for details on the surgery and the risks involved. She patiently answers their questions and assures them that Vanessa will be allowed to lend a hand where she can. After countless assurances they return to the room that will be Myka's abode for quite a while.

Helena leans in to graze Myka's lips. Pete makes a choking sound from the back and Claudia smiles. Perhaps they can still save her. Pete comes forward and punches her shoulder lightly. When Claudia hangs back Myka looks over to her.

"Come here you," She opens her arms wide.

Claudia flings herself into her arms a little too fast and Myka lets out a groan laughing.

"It'll be okay, Claud" she whispers in the younger agent's ear.

Myka watches all three of them with their faces trying to hide the fear that is clear in their eyes.

"I won't die you guys," She reassures them, "At least not today. But just in case, can I have a moment alone with Pete?"

Helena and Claudia oblige and Pete ligers back awkwardly. She can't help but think awkward is not Pete's color.

"I'm going to be fine, Pete. You can relax. You'll be fine."

"You don't know that"

This isn't going to be a light fun conversation filled with their usual teasing and taunting, they both know that.

"You're like a brother to me, you know that right? I mean you're more family than my actual blood. Pete, if anything happens to me-"

"Myka please don't"

"If anything happens to me, just-"

Pete nods. "I know. I will"

Myka takes his hand and pulls him in for a hug. Pete lets a few tears loose and when they are both done they look at each other, Pete is the first to look away. As he starts to walk out of the room Myka stops him.

"Don't tell my parents until after, okay. I don't want them to worry"

Pete nods. "Okay."

Myka does a one on one with Claudia next.

"Claud!" she smiles. "It's been so long since we've hung out"

"Well you know you were busy… with the cancer and lady loving and everything"

Myka laughs.

"That lady of your really is something you know"

"I know"

"It's good that she is back. She's good for you"

Myka tilts her head.

"I mean you wouldn't have ever listened to us. It seems the way to change your mind would be your pant- or lack thereof"

"Claudia!" Myka exclaims.

"What? Truth hurt?"

They leave it at that and Claudia walks out leaving just one person in the hallway.

Helena stands in the doorway unsure if she wants to walk in. This was after all her idea, why is her stomach in knots?

"Come here, you"

They walk towards each other and Myka pulls her in for a kiss. Their mouths collide into a soft long embrace where their hands fumble to etch every part of their body to memory. When they come up for air their eyes meet and stay there.

"I love you, Myka" Helena brushes strands of brown curls away from the woman's face.

"I love you too"

"Don't die on me, we're going to live long and happy. Wells and Bearing"

"Bearing and Wells"

"Bearing and Wells"


	10. Chapter 10

The hours Myka spends in surgery are the longest ones of Helena's entire life. They trickle by slowly, each one stretching just long enough to cause the sort of anguish and panic Helena has rarely ever felt, maybe just once before.

She paces back and forth in the hallway by the waiting lounge making the nurses nervously glance at her as they walk past. Pete tries to talk to her. All the pacing is making him want to throw something at her. He wants her to calm down and just sit patiently. She's acting like there is something to worry about, but there isn't. This is Myka. She'll be fine. She said so herself.

Claudia has to return to the Warehouse for some tech emergency. She tries to put it off as long as she can so she can be there when Myka gets out but Artie insists and when she leaves he takes her place in the lounge besides Pete. Artie deals with his feelings by alternating between a solemn silence and a round of questions directed at anyone who will listen.

"Miss, Agent Bearing is out of surgery" A nurse comes up to Helena, "Would you like to see the doctor?"

Helena follows the nurse while Pete and Artie hang back. Her heart pounding faster with each step she takes. The woman she is following has given nothing away with her straight face and composed demeanor. Helena wishes she would just tell her how it went.

Dr. Wilder says something about complications and the tumor still invading Myka's insides and all Helena is waiting to hear is that for now Myka is alright. When the words do reach her ears she can hear herself take a long deep breath. It doesn't look good, but for now she is alive.

"What now?" Helena asks.

"We wait for her to wake up"

"And?"

"Our next course of treatment will be rigorous chemotherapy and we'll go from there"

The next person Helena talks to is Vanessa. She waits for her to come out of the door that says staff only and is prepared to shoot questions at her, but Vanessa takes her by surprise.

"Agent Wells, I assume you've talked with Dr. Wilder?"

Helena does not correct her for calling her Agent, there are more important things at hand. "Yes, how is Myka?"

"The procedure went fine but it has spread much farther than we initially thought"

Helena looks at the woman in the white coat staring back at her with solemn eyes; she wants her to explain further. She wants to know how bad it is. How little time they have left but she can't seem to form the words. Helena can feel her throat closing up and the tears forming at the rim of her eyes. She opens her mouth to ask how much time she has left with the woman she feels she cannot live without but the only thing that comes across to the woman standing before her is her desperation and her sheer terror.

Vanessa does something she never imagined she ever would, she comes forward and brings her arms around H. G. Wells and hugs her.

"How is the artifact search going?

Helena refuses to cry in the arms of a strange woman that everyone else trusts but she knows little about, she stands firm and accepts the warmth of the embrace refusing to break down.

"Nowhere" she whispers the words shamefully. "It's gotten nowhere, Dr. Calder" Helena pulls away from her and walks back to Pete and Artie.

"She's out. They've taken her to her room. She is still unconscious but we can see her in a while"

"How did it go?" Artie raises his bushy brows.

"The hysterectomy was successful but the cancer has spread further than they thought. I don't think we have much time left now"

Artie wipes away the tear that hasn't even slipped out yet as his mouth curves into an O.

Pete slams his fist into the wall beside him. "Dammit!" He curses.

"You'll stay with her, right?" Helena looks at Pete. Upon noticing the confusion on his face she continues "I think I'm going to go back to the Warehouse and do some more research."

**Sorry if this chapter hasn't been my best, but a couple of keys on my keyboard are still broken and the on-screen one annoys me which in turn ruins my writing mood. But I've got great plans ahead so stay tuned.**


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Helena loses herself in the stacks and the endless rows that make up Warehouse 13. She doesn't know where to look, or what she is even looking for. She hopes that maybe the Warehouse values Myka enough to want to save her life and maybe it will help her do it. Helena wants to smell apples, she wants something to feel good.

The once mighty British woman allows her fist to meet the rack which sets off a reaction in multiple artifacts on the aisle. She ignore the ominous buzzing that has just started and falls onto her knees. A sound that she cannot make in public erupts from her throat stretching into a series of sobs. Helena cries until she feels like her insides are raw and used up. Maybe they are. Maybe she should just give up this pointless venture of being happy. Maybe it isn't in the cards for her. But then again, Helena Wells has never been a woman that allowed such a thing as fate to hinder her plans.

"H.G.?" A quite voice comes from around the corner.

Helena quickly wipes her face with the back of her hand and throws on the smile she has rehearsed far too often.

"Claudia, I didn't see you there"

Claudia's eyes are wide with panic and fear, her lips curved into a thin line.

"Is Myka? Is she- is she-"

The lines on Helena's forehead curve in confusion until she registers the terror on the young red head's face.

"No! Oh no, darling, Myka is out of surgery. It was successful. But it doesn't look good going forward"

"Oh" Claudia's muscles ease. "How is she?"

"I don't know, I haven't called yet"

"You didn't stay for her to wake up?"

Helena doesn't meet the younger woman's eye and looks away ashamed.

"I couldn't"

Claudia doesn't mention weary madness that is apparent in the other woman's eyes. She doesn't question why she was weeping alone in the depths of the Warehouse, she knows. She understands because she has done the same countless times, only she never got caught.

"What are you doing here?" Helena asks.

"Oh the disturbance set off a red light,"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

Claudia does not let her finish. She knows it would take away a chunk of her pride and she can see that Helena is already running low on a lot of things that made her so her.

"No it's cool, you go on ahead. I'll sort this mess out."

Helena smiles and nods as she make her way out.

* * *

"Mykes, hey. You're up" Pete stands up to grab a glass of water as Myka opens her eyes.

He hands it over to her but she hesitates, "I probably shouldn't" her voice comes out raspy.

Myka rubs her throat.

"It's okay the doc said to give you some after you came to"

Myka thankfully accepts the glass that Pete holds too close to her face and sips it slowly. She doesn't ask how it went, she waits for him to tell her.

Pete bounces from one leg to another which cues Myka to his awkwardness.

"Pete stop, you're making me dizzy"

"Oh sorry"

She raises her eyebrows expectantly and finally he gives her what she wants.

"They did the surgery"

She points to bandages, "I figured"

Pete chuckles. Myka smiles her eyes still giving away her trepidation.

"But it's worse than they thought so now you have to fight harder. You hear me, keep fighting. There'll be chemo and it'll suck but you can't give up, Myka, please don't give up. We have a world to protect and who is going to make sure your crazy girlfriend doesn't return to her world ending antics if you're not around"

Myka laughs, the sound lights up Pete's eyes.

"Is she your girlfriend?" He raises an eyebrow. "I know you've been doing your love making but what do we call her"

"Pete! I don't know but she did say she wanted to marry me"

"What! Oh my god! So did she propose? Are you like engaged or something?"

"No but she said she will"

"All the more reason to fight"

There is a pause and Myka does not want to unsettle the light mood that as been absent for a while but the question keeps nagging and she finally relents.

"Did they say how much time?"

Pete shakes his head. Myka's vision fogs and she gulps.

"Can I please have a moment alone?"

Pete nods, "I'll be just outside if you need anything"

Pete leaves the room and Myka breaks out into sobs. She can't fight. She can't. Her entire body aches and she feels sore and worse than she did at the beginning of the day. Maybe the fighting is making it worse. Maybe she should just go home and spend the time she has left with the people she loves.

Pete walks over to the nurse's station and tells them Myka is awake.

A blonde haired nurse that faintly resembles Leena comes into the brightly lit, pristine white room and examines Myka.

"Everything looks good, the doctor will be in to see you in a while" she smiles leaving the room with her tray.

Myka falls in and out of sleep during which Artie sits by and hovers, Vanessa comes to check up on her and even Claudia and Steve stake turns watching her. Everyone comes by except Helena. Myka's eyes search for the woman before losing to the tiredness and giving in to the oblivion only to come to again searching for the face of the woman who seems to be avoiding her.

Dr. Wilder comes to see Myka late in the evening when dusk has fallen and everyone huddled in her room is weary and exhausted. She asks everyone to give the doctor and her some privacy and they quickly oblige.

"Myka the surgery we went in to perform was successful however the growth we encountered means that we will have to be more aggressive with our treatment options. Once you are up to it we will start a round of chemo and then some radiation and we'll see how it goes from there"

Myka nods.

"How much time?"

Dr. Wilder looks at her with glum eyes, "A few months at best"

"At least?"

"One maybe less"

"Thank you doctor"

* * *

Helena pauses as her eyes settle on a page in the manifest.

"Marie Anne Heartly's Necklace," she whispers closing the dusty book.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

**Sorry it took so long, I had most of it done and then I lost the file :| Anyway this one is good, I promise :)**

It takes Helena another two days to finally go see Myka. She calls every few hours and sends flowers and text obsessively but she can't bring herself to go meet her in person, not yet anyway. Helena takes up residence in a small corner in the archives section of the Warehouse. The books strewn about function as a makeshift bed and the scrunched up leather jacket that has surely seen better days serves as a pillow. Helena is glad that there isn't a mirror in sight. She can't imagine how she looks right about now. With her eyes dark, wild and red and her cheeks stained with dried tears. She cannot fathom losing the woman she is avoiding at all costs. This may be what Claudia had referred to as the mad haze, Helena certainly feels quite a bit mad. She tugs at the white blouse that surely reeks by now and lets it hang half tucked into her brown fitted pants half dangling out.

Claudia returns with a fresh stack of books that no one has touched in decades. Her condition is much the same. The dark holes that have dug themselves at the rim of her eyes stand testament to the endless hours she has spent alternating between visiting Myka, researching and taking care of the Warehouse. She often forgets to eat, only to be reminded by a grumpy Artie who makes his way across the maze that is the Warehouse to deliver some take-out rumbling about not being a delivery boy.

Claudia squeals with delight as she turns over a page only to be followed disappointed sigh when she realizes the artifact was destroyed. They keep searching, debating the merits of certain artifacts every now and then, neither one of them acknowledging the existence of the necklace that lies in the inside pocket of Helena's jacket.

"Helena"

Helena doesn't look up from the book for a few long seconds only to be forced by the intent gaze of the red headed agent.

"What is it, Claudia?" She doesn't mean to be curt but the words come out sharp anyway.

"You need to go see her, there is nothing else."

"There has to be, Claudia, there just as to be." Claudia can see the pleading behind the dark eyes.

The woman before her is a desperate mess, scrambling to save the agent the Warehouse will never be the same without.

Claudia slowly moves over to close the book in Helena's hand and tilts her head. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up and off to your lady love."

Helena can't help but form a small smile. Claudia has been the only thing that has kept her from falling apart. She will never be able to express her gratitude to the young techie.

They leave behind the mess of books and parchments and grab Helena's jacket before making their way to the B&amp;B. Claudia changes and forces Helena into the shower holding her nose joking about the stench of a dead animal and needing to burn those clothes asap.

"Don't you want to look pretty for your girl?"

Helena shakes her head and obeys the younger agent's instructions even putting on the clothes that Claudia fishes out from the closet. Helena smiles when she sees the grey shirt that belongs to Myka laid out on the bed. She still remembers the last time Myka wore it; it was their first kiss after all.

When she is all dressed she takes a few books from the shelf to read to Myka and puts them in a bag with a few of Myka's clothes. This may be the last time she takes clothes for her to the hospital, so she makes her selection carefully.

She holds the necklace in the center of her palm and flips open the oval locket. She traces her thumb over the number on the frozen timer: _7:8:17:34_.

Downstairs Abigail has two steaming plates of easy bake lasagna ready at the table with Claudia already munching down on one.

"You don't want to faint of malnutrition, HG. Then well have two sick sexy ladies to deal with. Grab a plate."

Helena smiles and hears a chuckle from behind.

"Claudia is right," Abigail comes up from behind and places a gallon of orange juice on the table before settling down on a chair.

Helena nods and takes her place.

All three of them leave for the hospital leaving the Warehouse in the trusted hands of Steve Jinks. Helena gathers up the team in the hallway outside Myka's room. Pete smiles at her and punches her on the shoulder.

"Sure took your sweet time didn't you?" He scolds well-naturedly, "Left my partner hanging"

"I'm sorry about that"

"So what's the plan?"

"Everyone already knows what the necklace does, I am going to tell her about it and Myka being Myka is going to choose to use it. Claudia, you can take care of the clothing. Pete, get her parents here. Artie, Abigail, I hope I can trust you with the rest of the preparation?"

Everyone sounds their approval; Pete already turns away and gets on the phone. Artie and Abigail start discussing cuisine and décor. Claudia hangs back with a question.

"So that'll be a dress and a suit, am I right?"

Helena nods and hands over a check.

"I trust this will cover it?"

Claudia's eyes open wide, "Oh yeah!" She exclaims before getting on her objective.

Helena takes a deep breath before stepping into Myka's room.

She is met with a hostile glare and piercing eyes.

"You have been avoiding me."

"What? No! I am doing no such thing. I've just been busy."

"Too busy to visit your dying girlfriend?"

The look of sheer terror and panic that flashes across Helena's face almost makes Myka regret saying the words they have been dancing on egg shells over.

"No, love, I'm never too busy for you. I was just," she pauses unsure of how to choose her next word, "occupied."

When Myka sees that Helena is not going to relent, she chooses another course of action.

"Then tell me what is on your mind, honey."

"Like what?"

"Like are you making plans to go to dig up another lost Warehouse that houses an artifact that will help you destroy the world should I die?"

"That is nonsense Myka, there is no other lost Warehouse."

"You know what I mean"

"Is that how little faith you have in my redemption?"

Helena means to tease but Myka can see that she may have slightly marred the trust it took so long to build back up between them.

"Helena, oh my god no! No, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."

"I know, darling," she smiles.

"Helena, you know that I love you right? And nothing could ever change that. But please, just tell me what is on your mind."

Helena places the necklace on the table by Myka's bed. "I suppose it is your decision to make."

**Any guesses for what the artifact does and what they are up to?**


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

**The rating has been changed be advised, anyone who has an issue should probably skip this chapter. I've never written smut before so judge kindly.**

Myka's lifts the necklace letting it dangle at the edge of her index finger.

"What is it?"

"Something I hope you will forgo in favor of fighting this bloody thing," Helena chuckles wryly knowing full well that isn't going to happen.

"Helena," Myka's voice comes out as a cautiously hopeful whisper.

"It belonged to a woman who was terminally ill, much like yourself, she wore it throughout the course of her battle with the disease. Her name was Marie Anne Heartly. The necklace was imbued with power because of how hard she fought and still managed to fill her final days with joy. She fought Myka, she fought hard but she died.

"The catch?"

"The necklace gives the wearer perfect health for seven days, eight hours, seventeen minutes and thirty-four seconds in exchange for the rest of their time. The timer starts the moment you put on the necklace."

Myka didn't say anything and let the information sink in. She could be fine. She wouldn't have to feel like this. Even if it was just for a short time. She could kiss Helena with fierce passion without the other woman holding back for the fear of breaking her.

"Myka I really hope you wait. Maybe something better will turn up-"

"If it hasn't yet it won't now, Helena. There is nothing that doesn't have even worse consequences" Myka doesn't mean to be harsh as she cuts off the woman grasping onto her hands for dear life but she is tired of pretending better things will come along. She never wanted to hope for better things, but Helena made her want to hope, Pete made her want to hope. Now, she has resigned herself to the fact that hope is foolish. And this artifact is her only shot at some semblance of normalcy before she dies.

"In that case, fight. Maybe the treatment will work. Get chemo. Please Myka. One week isn't enough. I want you for so much longer. Please-just please. I can't lose you- I can't" Helena breaks down into sobs, something Myka hasn't seen in a while. It throws her off. Throughout the whole ordeal Helena has been her rock. The time traveler has made it easier to believe that things will improve. Watching her finally break down makes Myka realize how much she has truly been keeping in.

Myka shifts her hands so that she is holding Helena's instead of the other was around. She brings them up and presses them softy against her lips. One hand lets go. She grazes her thumb against Helena's moist pale skin wiping away the tears while cooing her like a child. Her hand cups her face, fingers laced into the strands of hair hanging loose from the messy bun.

"Helena," Myka pulls her in letting their lips meet for a brief second, "you'll be fine"

Myka moves to let go but Helena holds on and claims Myka's mouth with the urgency a person whose minutes are numbered. Helena climbs onto the bed making it creak and rumble. They almost topple over dissolving into a fit of laughter before Helena finally rests firmly on top of Myka.

She soaks in every crevice before she leans in; lips crashing, tongues darting. Helena bites Myka's lower lip eliciting a soft moan that makes her centre yearn for the brunette's touch. Helena presses her lips on the perfect spot on the brunette's neck with practiced motion drawing a breathless Myka to moan her name. Her hands pull over the grey T-shirt the woman beneath her has been wearing for days the sight of her bare skin causing her to smile. She leans in to kiss her, her thumb rubbing circles over her breasts.

Myka is glad that the IV's and needles sticking in her arms were removed just this morning. She can't imagine navigating through them without creating a ruckus. She is pretty sure that anyone who walks by the room will know what is happening on the inside but as Helena's mouth comes down on her aroused nipple she doesn't care if the entire world is listening.

Consumed in the heated passion neither one of them notice the door swing open or the cups of coffee hit the ground until an all too familiar snicker breaks them apart.

"Oh boy! Well, you did promise to let me watch, Mykes" Pete doesn't even try to hide the smile spread across his face, "But seriously ladies, cover it up" He gestures with his hands averting her eyes.

Helena's cheeks color and Myka moves behind the raven haired woman her hands grasping for her fallen T-shirt. Helena pulls the sheet over Myka and straightens her own shirt, fastening the buttons that have come lose.

"You're both like horny teenagers, God don't you have to wait to consummate until after?"

Helena glares at Pete cutting him off.

Myka tries to bite back a smile. "After what?"

"A-after you're home of course," Helena manages to stutter.

Myka chuckles, "Nice save, hon."


	14. Chapter 14

The night before she is set to be released Myka lays on the bed running her hands through the dark locks of the woman sound asleep beside her. Myka tells no one about the nightmares that have been hounding her more and more. She doesn't talk about the pit expanding at an alarming rate in her stomach when she realizes using the necklace takes away so much. There will be so many things she will never get to do, so many things she will never get to see. She doesn't talk it over with Helena, because she knows the woman pretending to be content with her decision will jump and never relent the moment Myka presents the possibility of a fight.

Myka shifts in her bed and when she finally accepts that sleep has abandoned her for the night she carefully moves the sleeping woman off of herself and onto the pillow. Myka pulls on Helena's shirt lying on the ground and moves to stand by the window waiting for dawn to break. Her mornings are numbered but the artifact will mean only seven more and Myka cannot fathom the idea of having just seven more mornings waking up next to Helena. She looks over at her, her own beating heart matching the rise and fall of her lover's.

She chuckles when she pauses to count the number of times they have been walked in on. One would assume that they would learn to lock the door by now but the flustered young nurse who ran out the room last night would say differently. She wonders if their kids will be the same but before she can finish the thought she stops herself. She will never have kids, not with Helena or anyone else.

It is not the thought of dying that finally gets to her, it the thought of never living out her life. There is so much she wants. She does not remember when she rolled over and decided to take it lying down. Myka has always been one to fight. She can feel the rhythm of her heart pick up when she shakes Helena awake.

The woman looks back at her with half open eyes groggily awake.

"I'll try the chemo."

"What?" Helena sits up suddenly at full attention and pulls the sheets over herself.

"I'll do it. If there is a chance I can grow old with you I want it. I want a backyard full of laughing kids. I want to watch your gorgeous hair turn grey. I want to spoil our grandkids with you. I want to explore this world with you. I want to wake up next to you for as many days as I can. I want to hear you whisper I love you and kiss me for many more mornings than just seven. And if that is the slightest bit possible I want it. I want you forever, Helena, or as long as I can."

"Myka-"

"But," Myka raises her hand to cut her off, "if it doesn't work. If the first round doesn't work I'm done. No more protests. No more fighting. I'm done. You have to promise me that because I have a hard enough time saying no to you already. So please, Helena, just promise me you'll stop pushing. I want to fight but I do not want to be sicker. I want to die as myself."

"I promise," Helena smiles. "I promise"

* * *

Myka forces Helena to go home for the night assuring her she'll be fine on her own. Helena relays the good news and quotes her exact words when she gives the message to Pete, "I am not a child, that would be Pete. Tell him to come by in the morning and bring me some twizzlers."

Pete whines about weird vibes but finally settles down when Claudia snipes at him.

They all settle down in the living room after dinner with a celebratory cup of hot coca, curtsey of Abigail. Claudia lies on the couch with her head in Helena's lap and her legs on Pete's. Artie and Abigail sit on the chairs across them. Steve sits at the table. The TV plays an old sitcom but no one really watches.

"She could be fine, it could work," Claudia breaks the silence.

"She could," Helena brushes a strand of red from Claudia's forehead.

"Why is everyone acting like they are going to a funeral?" Artie gruffs, "Myka is going to return to work soon. She is going to be fine. She is long overdue her vacation anyway, a lot to cover up"

His voice betrays no doubt. It is the erratic movements of his hands that spill half the contents of his mug onto the rug that give him away.

Pete smiles as Artie gets up to clean the mess. "Yeah, I'm with Artie on this one."

"Alright then, let's start a pool, I say the chemo works and she comes home in under a month. Fifty bucks" Claudia drops the money on the table.

"Three weeks. Fifty" Pete puts down his money.

"I will be no part of this childish affair," Artie gets up and walks out, his eyebrows scrunched close together in annoyance.

"Four weeks," Steve adds his money to the pile.

Helena lifts Claudia's head and runs upstairs her feet pounding against each stair.

She closes the door to the room she shares with Myka and pauses to look around. Everything in the room has a touch of Myka. The books stacked neatly, the paperwork on her desk, the shoes lying in the corner. But along with reminders of Myka, the room also has memories of their time together. Helena can never forget the small moments they have spent right there or the times she has made love to the woman on their bed. This space is theirs now, not simply Myka's. It is a witness to their time together and she cannot imagine existing in it without her other half.

Helena washes her face in the bathroom sink and chuckles to herself remembering the time she almost attacked Myka when the brunette attempted to surprise her while she was showering. The door opens and she is not surprised that the voice that calls out belongs to Claudia.

"You don't think she'll be okay?" She cuts straight to the chase but her voice is laced with a thick coat of caution.

"Do you, honestly?"

They both settle down on the bed and Claudia looks at Helena smiling like someone who has lost practice at the art of curving her mouth upwards.

"Her parents will be here tomorrow evening, are you going to do it?"

"I don't know. I was finally coming to terms with the bloody fact that this was the end of the line but this hope, this hope is petty dithering mistress."

"But it's also all we've got H.G. Don't lose it. Myka needs you to stay strong. You make her strong."

"Thank you, Claudia darling. You may not know this but you have been my rock through this entire ordeal and for that I owe you more I can ever return."

**So, thoughts? Is Myka going to make it?**


	15. Chapter 15

The IVs digging into Myka's wrist turn most of her hand cold until it is all but numb. The nurse assures her that there will be no scar but the marks left behind from the very first day tell a different story. Helena brushes her hand over Myka's, now used to the sharp contrast between her own warmth and the brunette's cool skin.

"Just one more," Helena s smiles softly as the nurse plunges a needle into another bag of medicine and shakes it vigorously before replacing the empty plastic bag.

Myka just grumbles and rolls her eyes before turning away. The moment the nurse walks away Myka's eyes flick to the slowly dripping droplets. She groans as she moves forward.

"How slow has she kept this stupid thing?" She glares at Helena as the woman forces her back ruffling Myka's bottle green sweatshirt in the process.

"Darling they know what they are doing,"

"Do they?" Myka snipes, "Because this is the third cycle, Helena, the third damn one and nothing is happening!" Myka is louder than she intends to be but the closed door of their private room makes sure no one else will hear.

"The Neoadjuvant chemotherapy was meant to shrink your tumor so they could resect the entire thing once they performed surgery, but this does not mean all hope is lost, Myka, it just means you need to keep fighting harder"

"Fight harder," Her voice does nothing to hide how worn out she is. "How much harder, Helena? How much longer? I am tired of fighting, look at me" She runs her hand through her shortened hair.

She could not bear the thought of losing it all at once so they devised a plan where they would cut off an inch every day. Every day Helena stood behind Myka with a pair of scissors and Myka closed her eyes allowing a piece of her former self to fall away until all she had left was a few inches of curls that shed every time she ran her fingers through them and a woman that was a mere shadow of herself.

"I am looking, love" Helena cups Myka's face, "And you look no different than the first time you stood at the end of my barrel"

Myka pauses then erupts into laughter, Helena follows her lead. The only moments of genuine joy are when she pauses to reminisce and she has been doing that a lot lately.

"If only that were true"

"If you are going to argue with me on this one, darling, you should know, you will lose"

"Ladies, interrupting something, am I?" Pete strolls in.

He comes around the bed and places a brotherly kiss on Myka's forehead.

"So, how are we doing today?"

"The usual, I'm being grumpy, Helena charming as always."

Helena blushes as Myka meets her eyes.

Pete knocks his finger against the bag of fluids and raises his eyebrows. "Five minutes?"

"Ten." Both women say together.

"I don't get why Pete has to be our chauffer, I am perfectly capable of driving us?"

"Helena, honey, while you may excel at many things being in a car with you in the driver's seat is like walking into a death trap."

Helena moves back and brings her hands her face to exaggerate her shock.

"I still love you, despite this great hamartia"

"Well, in that case," Helena presses her lips against Myka's.

"Come on, get a room you two"

"We are in a room, Pete." Myka chuckles.

The nurse comes in to remove the drips and frowns at Pete.

"You know the rules, one visitor"

"I do, Sophia" Pete turns on his charm, "But I thought dinner with me tomorrow night would grant me a free pass"

Sophia just shakes her head as if this is not the first time she has heard that but Helena notices the blush creep up on her cheeks. She places everything in a metal tray and bandages Myka.

"You're all set," Sophia smiles, "We'll see you again in two weeks. I'll get the wheelchair-"

Myka raises her hand but before she can start to speak Sophia shakes her head.

"Right, no wheelchairs for you. My bad." She nods slightly and turns away.

It is only after the door closes behind the perky blonde that Myka gets up staggering slightly before Helena lends her support and punches Pete in the arm.

"Stop hitting on all my nurses!"

They all laugh leaving the hospital, for a moment forgetting that the treatment isn't helping, only making things worse.

**Thanks to everyone still reading! :) Next chapter shall be up soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I usually take ages, but these are the final few so I'm really enjoying this. Plus this is probably the longest one yet. Enjoy!**

Pete rests his hand on the handle of the door to the B&amp;B but makes no effort to turn it. He clenches his teeth and turns to face Myka waiting expectantly with Helena's arms wrapped around her.

"Uh, Myka, there is something you probably ought to know before we step inside."

"What have you done, Pete?" she sounds annoyed but her tone is laced with a certain sense of curiosity. Everyone treats her differently now. They walk on eggshells and do their best to never upset her. Pete's tone suggests whatever is waiting inside is not going to be pleasant.

"Well, I know you keep putting it off, but your parents are kind of here"

"Define kind of"

"They're waiting in the living room and not the least bit pleased that all your emails and phone calls have only said you are doing well," Pete shrugs, "Really, Mykes? They're your parents"

Myka rolls her eyes and shoves Pete aside before stepping over the threshold. The moment she does she wishes she could wait a moment longer outside, collect herself. What she meets in the living room is a terrified mother and a furious father. Tea sits cooling on the table, made by Abigail, she assumes. But by the looks of it, neither one of them has touched it. Warren's face is all but red with rage, because fear so easily comes out as anger and all the lines are so blurry right now.

"I don't know what to do with this girl, Jeanie" Myka hears walking in on an on-going conversation. "She needs her parents,"

On any other such occasion Myka would never have dared to say her next words out loud but right now her walls are down and her filter stripped away.

"What I need is my family, and I have plenty here,"

The moment the words leave her lips she wants to pull them back in, luckily, she has someone else that can come to the rescue.

"What Myka means is, with you all here the only family she has missing is her sister"

Warren peers at her as if trying to gauge the motives of the woman with her fingers laced into his daughter's hand.

Helena lets go of Myka and moves forward to shake her parents' hands.

"It is great to see you again, Mrs. Bearing" Helena nods. "And a pleasure to finally meet you, sir"

"Am I to assume you are the infamous Ms. Wells?"

Helena raises her eyebrows and looks back at Myka before returning her attention back to the man before her.

"Myka has mentioned me?"

"You've come up," is all he chooses to say about the matter.

They settle in with some coffee and biscuits, the conversation about Myka not telling her parents lost in the talk of the treatment progress so far. Helena cannot help but notice that the brunette only nibbles at the chocolate chip cookie that she once claimed were her favorites and barely sips the coffee.

Claudia attempts to lighten the mood with her usual wisecracks, a few about her times alone in the Warehouse doing things Artie vocally disapproves of. Steve shares his recent stories of holding down the fort on his own and even Irene makes an appearance.

Myka's parents get to meet everyone and Myka cannot help but smile. This feels good. It's been a while since it has been like this, but it feels like home again. Maybe Helena was right, now all her family can be together and savor each moment until it lasts.

Myka looks around trying to spot Pete, she just thought that he has been quite for a bit but upon closer inspection she notices he is nowhere to be found. She gets up too fast and has to pause to let the dizziness wane. The first place she looks is the kitchen and when he is not there she proceeds to search the upper floor.

"Pete?" she calls out standing outside his room. "I'm not mad about you calling my parents if that's why you're hiding" She pauses, waiting for a quip. "Pete? I'm coming in, I hope you're decent because no one wants to-" She stops talking when she sees the room is empty.

It is not Helena but Abigail who comes up from behind. "I think he left to go somewhere."

Myka turns around to face the woman. "Where?"

"He didn't mention it"

"Oh," She nods pulling out her phone, "Thanks"

The bell keeps going but Pete doesn't pick up. When Myka hangs up she notices the text he has sent her earlier.

'_Going on an artifact chase. Be back soon. Artie knows.' _

When Myka returns to the table she amused to find Helena cornered by her parents with questions about their relationship.

"So are you and Myka-?" Jeanie raises her eyebrows.

Myka is the only one standing from behind who notices Helena's cheeks flush. While the British woman may boast about her conquests, meeting the parents was not her forte.

"Lovers? I believe that is a question best presented to Myka."

She does not notice both of them cringe at the word lovers instead, she looks around panicked searching for said lover. When she sees Myka, the other woman comes up behind her and places both hands on her shoulders.

"It would seem you have not shared the nature of our relationship with your parents, they have a few questions for you, darling" While Helena remains smooth with her tongue her eyes plead with Myka to save her from this predicament.

"Helena is my girlfriend, mom, dad" Myka smiles.

"It's great that you have someone," Jeanie pats Myka's arm.

"She seems like an upstanding young lady" Warren looks at his daughter.

Claudia snorts. "There's two words to describe H.G."

And while Warren and Jeanie remain confused, everyone else joins in the laughter, even Helena.

* * *

The first few days are the best, they always are. The effects of the drugs are still in the process of hitting her with their full might, something she knows all too well by now. She feels fine besides the fatigue, the constant, ever present fatigue that seems more a part of her life than the after affects of some drug.

It is the end of the first week when it really hits. It is then that it gets harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning. Her limbs weigh more somehow, while her body shrivels up. Anything she eats, she is bound to throw up. So she hardly ever eats, despite the constant nagging of every resident of the B&amp;B and the ever present platters of food cluttering her surroundings.

Myka does not like to admit it but when Claudia has to run across the backyard to catch her as she faints she finally gives in to the fact that she is more prone to fainting spells than she has ever been before. She is not allowed to lock doors behind her anymore, in case – but no one ever finishes that sentence. That doctor warns her about not getting hurt in any way, something about white blood cells or infections. Myka can't keep track of it all anymore. There are more things she cannot do than she actually can. She doesn't like it one bit. And she is more than vocal about it.

"Myka," a voice shakes her back to the living room, "Myka!"

She realizes this voice has been calling out for a while, and she tries to ignore it before the incessant loop of her name being called in a louder and louder tone becomes impossible to neglect.

"What?" she snaps, turning her head to her mother.

Jeanie hands her a bunch of tissues crumpled in her hand. "Your nose is bleeding again,"

"Oh,"

Myka pulls her head back in a practiced motion and wipes away the stream of red. When she feels it dry up she stands up to leave.

"I think I'll go up for a bit"

Her mother starts to stand but Myka stops her.

"I don't need you to tuck me in, mom" she smiles.

"Right, of course" Jeanie returns the smile with a hint of sadness, "You're all grown up now. You can fight all your battles on your own"

"Not all of them," Jeanie's smile spreads slightly wider and she is glad to hear those words.

Myka finds Helena pulling on her shirt in their room. She closes the door behind them and raises her eyebrows, smiling seductively.

"Well someone's in a mood"

"Kiss me, Helena"

So Helena steps forward and presses her lips to Myka's briefly before pulling away.

Myka frowns.

"Not like you're afraid of breaking me," she pulls the other woman in, "Kiss me like you used to, like you actually mean it"

Helena complies. And it feels good. It has been a while.

They pull apart then settle onto the bed, Helena's hand thrown over Myka's waist, their legs; a jumble of limbs. They stay like that until it feels like time no longer exists. But mirrors of deception always crack.

"It's time," Myka says running her fingers over the necklace under her pillow.

And while Helena may not be able to see the golden glint of the necklace, she knows exactly what Myka means. It is a moment she has dreaded for a long time.

**So Pete is MIA and it's time. Things aren't looking too good, are they? Or are they? …**


	17. Chapter 17

Every occupant of the B&amp;B, except two, sits patiently in the living room waiting for Myka to pull the ground from beneath their feet. Each pair of eyes boring holes into her almost makes her lose her resolve. Her parents sit on the couch their hands clasped together to brace themselves for the inevitable. Claudia sits at the edge of her seat, prepared to flee should her tears betray her. And Artie just sits with his shoulders slumped and his eyes mournful, as if he has already accepted the fate of his most promising agent as one that was ultimately unavoidable. Steve watches Myka intently. He notices the twitch in her gait pacing back and forth never meeting anybody's eye as she lists her reasons, the uncertainty in her voice even as she assures them that this is the most humane option. It is a lie. He can read between her words. He can see her sheer terror. He says nothing. Abigail remains in the shadows, prepared to provide counsel should anyone ask, but respecting their space. No one says anything for a while after Myka is done. There are no words.

Myka does her best not to think about the fight she had with Helena earlier in not so many words. The older woman pled for more time. She begged for Myka to reconsider. She reminded her there was still one cycle left, still a chance. But Myka had had enough of pretending that there was any hope. There is none. The necklace shoved into her pocket her only option left. Even as she tried to remind Helena of her promise she did not expect her to leave the room slamming the door shut behind her. As she paces with six pairs of eyes trailed on her she realizes she should have seen it coming.

When she stops and positions herself in a spot where she can look at everyone she expects them to shoot furious arguments. It is only when she looks and notices that she is not the only one with red, swollen eyes and craters dug beneath them that go so perfectly with their empty, desolate look. It is then that she pauses to consider that this infliction may be destroying more than just her.

"I will of course wait for Pete to come back," she attempts a feeble attempt at a smile. "If he ever picks up his phone" She adds the last part under her breath.

She gains a few nods but it seems she has stolen all their words.

"Mom, Dad? Are you okay with this?"

She sees a certain kind of anger behind her mother's eyes that she never has before.

"Alright?" Mrs. Bearing makes no effort to lower her voice. "Alright?! How can you even ask me that? You are making your choices unilaterally, unconcerned by how they affect us and now you pause to ask us if we are alright? Did you even think about us? Did you pause to think how we would feel? Did you?"

Myka staggers as she takes a step back. Partly because she has been on her feet for far too long, but mostly because of how hard the words hit her.

"No," her voice is small, a whisper. It is the most honest thing she has said to them in a while.

"No?" It is her father who asks, stretching the single syllable into an infinitely long sound punctuated by his eyebrows coming together in utter confusion.

The rest of the Warehouse team sits uncomfortably, considering whether and if yes, how to leave the scene unfolding before them without making it any more awkward.

"No," Myka shrugs doing everything in her power to not break down into a puddle of her own tears. "I didn't."

When both her parents continue to look at her more confused than enraged or disappointed ,she goes on.

"I didn't think about anything, nothing but this incessant pain. This feeling of- I am not me. Myka Bearing, Secret Service Agent at Warehouse 13, is dead. She disappeared bit by bit, little by little until all that is left is this. I am not me. I feel nothing like me. I am cancer girl. Girl who is dying. Girl who needs to be cared for around the clock. I am a lot of things right now, none of them are me. So if I can get her back for a few days, if I can be normal plain old Myka Bearing for seven days and a bit, if I can just not feel so broken only for a little while, I'll take it. I will take it with both arms open and wide smile because I just want to feel like me. Please let me feel like me. Let me have her back."

Everyone sits stunned. Myka wipes away the tears running down her cheeks. She does not notice the raven haired woman shrouded in the shadows, listening in from the other end of the hall. Helena feels a pang of guilt envelop her heart. All this while she has been trying to save Myka, never once did she pause to see Myka had lost herself. She cannot face her now, so she remains in her place, undetected.

"Myka," It is just one word from the youngest agent at the Warehouse and it expresses what everyone else is feeling.

Myka turns away and walks out the back door.

Helena wastes no time in entering the room taking up the empty floor.

"You heard?" Claudia asks.

Helena nods.

"Remember the favor I had asked of all of you?"

Everyone nods.

"We are throwing a wedding in the backyard the second Myka's best man returns and her sister arrives."

The prospect of a wedding in the midst of all this pain lightens up everyone's faces and even lends some smiles.

"Mrs. Bearing, Mr. Bearing I trust you can lend a hand with the preparations?"

When they both nod vigorously Helena cannot help but smile.

"I will take Myka away to look for Pete, and hopefully everything will be set upon our return."

When Helena goes to follow Myka into the back everyone else bursts into action. Artie dials the phone and confirms the cake delivery time; glad he placed a pending order just a few days back. Claudia leaves to go pick up the dresses and suits for the brides and the attendees already picturing Myka in the simple yet elegant gown she has on hold at the wedding shop in town. Abigail leads everyone else to where the decorations are stashed.

Helena comes up from behind and places a hand on Myka's shoulder.

"Is that how you really feel, love?"

Myka turns around and buries her head into Helena's shoulder not bothering to mask the tears running down her cheeks.

Helena brings her arms around the younger woman and holds her tightly.

"Ssh… I've got you, darling" Helena rubs circles on her back. "It's okay. We will use the artifact and you will live out the rest of our time together to its utmost and then I will let you go. It's okay, Myka. I love you"

"I don't want to die, Helena. But I don't want to feel this way, either. I just want it to stop." Her voice is muffled through all the tears.

"I know, love, I know. I am with you, whatever you decide you need to do, I am with you."

When she senses the brunette quite down she pulls a little back and wipes her cheeks with her thumbs.

"Would you like to go and find Pete?"

"Where are we even going to look?"

"I believe we can rustle up an artifact or two that can aid us"

"Okay"

Myka glances into the house through the window and watches everyone run back and forth with boxes in their hand. The edges of her mouth curve up into a smile.

"Oh and honey," Myka holds Helena's hand, "I know what they're doing."

When Helena raises her eyebrows incredulously Myka laughs.

"For people who are in the business of keeping secrets, they are horrible at it"

"Claudia?" Helena asks.

"Artie"

**Next chapter is the big wedding everyone has been looking forward to and maybe that other thing that they haven't been looking forward to all that much. **

**Where is Pete at anyway? Thoughts and ideas are always welcome.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! This chapter is dedicated to all my readers and reviewers. The story could not have gone on this long without your invaluable support. Thank you!**

When they get to the Warehouse they find Pete pacing back and forth with his phone lying in a few different pieces across the control room. Helena raises her eyebrows and exchanges a brief glance with Myka before leaving the pair alone.

"Pete?" Myka comes around to face him. "Everything alright?"

"Myka! Hey you're here! You're here. Why are you here? You should be resting, Mykes. Wait, is everything alright?"

Pete waits a moment when Myka stares past him zoned out into space. He waves his hand in front of her face trying to win back her attention.

"Myka?"

"Oh right! Sorry! I just, I was thinking I'm never going to have to do that again." She laughs pointing at the inventory manifest on the table by the computer. "What a load off, am I right?"

Pete shifts his weight between his feet uneasily and attempts a laugh. ''Uhh yeah, sure."

"Too bad you're still stuck with it. Don't you wish you had a free pass, like say cancer? Or death?"

"Myka!" It is not Pete but Helena who takes her by surprise.

"Oh come on honey, you know what I mean"

"I know exactly what you mean Myka, but do not presume to think that it hurts any less to have accepted it." Helena voice is sharp and puts an end to any protest or retort that may have crossed Myka's mind.

"I am sorry, hon" She turns back to Pete "So where have you vanished off to, Pete?"

"Vanished? Nowhere at all! I am right here as you can clearly see" Pete gestures to himself as if he has just performed a magician's reappearing act.

"Then why do you look like you have your hand in the cookie jar?"

"Cookies? Where?" He looks around for comic effect.

"Seriously, Pete? Stop trying to evade"

Pete shakes his head miserably. "I thought I had a lead, it didn't pan out so I came here to look into something."

"Oh" is all the response he gets from both women.

"I'm sorry, Myka"

Myka looks up with a smile plastered onto her face and her eyes shining.

"No worries, Pete! I have decided to use the necklace. It's why we were looking for you in the first place. So, stop chasing ghost artifacts that do not exist and spend some time with your dying partner" she glances at Helena to make sure she isn't going to get another scolding.

Pete goes to recover the remnants of his phone while Myka moves towards the chair and staggers before she settles down onto it. She chuckles but it comes out half-hearted and breathless.

"Wow! This whole fighting death thing can really exhaust a girl! Who knew?"

Helena waits until Pete is out of earshot then lowers her voice to a whisper. "What are you trying to achieve by throwing your impending fate in our face over and over and over again, Myka? I don't understand." For once the brilliant British woman staring back at the frail Warehouse agent looks utterly perplexed.

"I just- I want to ease you into the idea, so you get used to it while I am here to hold you when you break down in the middle of the night because the thought of waking up without me is too overwhelming. I don't want it to overwhelm you into the place you were in when you were- you know" Myka shrugs.

"Bronzed" It isn't a question.

In the silence that settles in Pete crawls out of the room waits staring down at the endless wonder that can't seem to help when they need it most.

"Myka, I want you to believe me when I say I will never do anything to hurt you like that again"

"It isn't me that I am worried about, Helena"

"I'll be good, is that what you want to hear? Then there it is, darling, I'll be the good little grieving widow."

"Guys?" Pete pokes him head into the room, "Tracy is at the B&amp;B"

Myka stands up doing her best not to meet Helena's eyes. "We should be on our way then. I'll come with Pete" she tosses the keys "Bring the SUV?"

Helena nods and darts past them.

Pete raises his eyebrows but says nothing.

When they get to the car they can only see the distant silhouette of a black SUV racing towards the empty horizon. Myka stares at it until it is swallowed by the midnight blue of the sky.

Pete starts up the car and waits for his partner to put on her seatbelt but he doesn't make a move to press his foot down on the paddle, instead he stares intently at the woman in the passenger seat.

"I can't believe I am actually saying this, because I honestly thought I would never see the day when I would be defending H. G. Wells, who just so happens to be my partner's girlfriend, but you're being unfair to her."

Myka raises her eyebrows, taken completely by surprise.

"She has proven herself, Mykes. She stood by you through all the worse bits-"

"But the worst isn't here yet, is it?"

"No, no it isn't. But she genuinely seems redeemed now. She wants to marry you. She will be fine."

"That is exactly what I am worried about. Marriage means that she wants to spend the rest of our lives together and the rest of my life is just seven days and a bit. What if once I bite the dust she can't take it? What if she goes all homicidal again?"

"With her track record that is all a possibility, I agree and I am no relationship expert but I thought you were supposed to trust each other or something"

"Since when are you the mushy, touchy feely type?"

"Since you've decided to kick the bucket without me"

Myka laughs as Pete drives towards the B&amp;B.

"I have a feeling we are going to use up all the deathly metaphors out there before this is over"

Myka smiles as she stares out at the barren expanse thinking of ways she can apologize to Helena without actually saying the words. She bites her lip as a few thoughts cross her mind.

They walk into their home to find Tracy sitting with Abigail, the rest of team Warehouse along with her parents conspicuously missing.

"Tracy!" Myka rushes forward to hug her sister.

"Hey there! Look at you." She steps back to observe the evident changes in her sister's physique. The snug leather jacket does its best to mask the way the button down shirt seems like a white sheet draped over a lamp post but the hollowness of her cheeks and her dim eyes are what jump out first as the jarring difference in the sister she saw just a while back and the woman standing before her. But even in her fading state Myka Bearing seems sure of herself and her presence fills up the entire room. Tracy runs her fingers through the short brunette locks that are straightened out to trace the curve of Myka's face. "Love the new hairdo!"

"It's a cancer special!" Myka chuckles.

"You look great, Myka" she smiles pulling her in for another hug.

"Yeah, perks of having one foot in the grave: flawless skin"

Tracy raises her eyebrows momentarily stunned by Myka's candor but Pete chuckles from behind the pair. "Nice one! Another one checked off the list!" He turns to face Tracy. "She's trying this thing where she eases everyone into the concept of her death by saying it over and over until we just have to yell at her to shut up and do it already. Did I get that right, Mykes?"

"On the spot!"

"So where is everyone?" Myka asks Abigail.

"They're out back…" she lets the words trail off not sure if she should continue.

"It's alright, Abigail. She knows." Helena descends from the staircase.

"Oh! That's good"

Myka looks between her sister and her lover deciding where she needs to be more. "Trace I really want to catch up, but I'll find you in a bit?"

Tracy eyes Helena and nods.

"I'll keep her company," Pete walks around Myka to face Tracy.

Myka leads Helena into the adjoining room and closes the door behind them.

Helena tugs at her shirt waiting for Myka to say something.

"Helena," Myka takes both her hands into her own, "I love you. You know that right? I love you more than anyone and anything. I am sorry. I didn't mean to doubt you. I was just afraid. I am so sorry, love, I am sorry that I hurt you. I will stop throwing it in your face if that is what you need me to do."

"It's alright, Myka. I think it is about more than getting me used to the fact that I will have to go on without you. I have a feeling I am not the only one having a tough time, no matter your brave face. So if this is how you choose to process it, I can take it."

Myka smiles and looks at the woman staring back at her. Her eyes trace her jaw, her pronounced cheekbones, her dark eyes and they settle onto the curve of her lips. Myka runs her tongue over her own lips and bites her lower lip.

"God, how are you so" she takes a step forward letting the unsaid words hand in the air between them.

"I have something to say, well actually ask of you" Helena cuts her off.

"Helena I know what you are planning behind the scenes and I love you so much more for it, but before you actually say the words out loud, I need to say my bit."

Helena nods.

"I am going to die. And it's going to be real soon. We can just spend our time like this, in love, with each other. Why do we need to get married?"

"Because I am not letting you leave this Earth without having called you my wife at least once"

"Helena, please understand"

"Myka I was not going to propose to you, because you don't get to say no just because you don't want to leave me as your widow. So instead I will ask you this; Myka Ophelia Bearing, do you love me?"

"Yes"

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

"Yes"

"Would you have said yes no arguments had you more time?"

"Definitely"

"Then tomorrow I get to call you my wife because two people who love each other as much as I love you and you love me deserve to say their vows in front of friends and family, and also because I used your full name so I fulfilled the proposal requirements have I not?"

Myka smiles, pauses a moments and then erupts into laughter. Helena watches her baffled.

"You were always smooth with your words. Can't win an argument against H.G. Wells, now can I?"

Helena raises her eyebrows. "Is that a yes?"

"Oh yeah"

Helena pulls out a gleaming silver ring and slips it onto Myka's finger.

"I am going to kiss you now"

"Alright"

Helena takes her time covering the little distance between them and then leans in slowly enough that Myka just pulls her in. She savors the taste the brunette leaves behind once their embrace is cut short by a red headed woman opening the door.

"Oops!"

"Claud! Hey, what do you have there?" She points at the dress covered in a transparent plastic draped over Claudia arm.

"Your wedding dress," Claudia smiles. "I realize traditionally you should get to choose your dress and plan your wedding and all, but since when are you two traditional anyway. Hell, has this one here even proposed to you?"

"Actually she just did" Myka holds out her hand to show off the elegant ring with a glistening diamond perched at the center.

"Wow! It looks beautiful on you," she smiles. "Also I totally helped her pick that; she would've completely been lost without my utterly invaluable help"

"I would have, indeed. Thank you, Claudia"

"I'm just glad you didn't reach the altar and then realize you never actually proposed?" Claudia snarks.

**So I know this chapter was supposed to be the wedding but this ran longer than I expected. Next one is almost done though so it won't be a long wait.**

**With my track record in mind, who here doesn't expect Myka to die?**


	19. Chapter 19

**Finished a little later than I intended but it worth it. I promise! **

They decide to walk down the aisle together, hand in hand, even though Warren threw a fit when he learnt he wouldn't get to escort his daughter down the aisle the only time she is going to get married. And Myka almost caves, letting him have this one final thing before she kicks it, but she didn't want Helena to have to do it alone. And Helena may not admit it, but she is glad she gets to hold onto Myka's hand, because she is not planning on letting go of it as long as there is breath in her chest.

The dress Claudia picked out fits Myka like a glove and she is the first to admit that even she could not have picked out something better. Claudia however, insists that she subtly walked Myka though places where she could judge the agent's reaction to each dress, so really it was Myka choosing it all on her own, Claudia just went and bought it. At least, that is what she tells Myka now, later she takes a mental note to brag about her fabulous taste in wedding apparel and how this could totally be a career alternative for her.

Helena is dressed in a dark navy suit with a brownish vest, her hair held up in a neatly messy bun. Myka thinks it is perfect because it looks like it is pulled right out of the Victorian era and Helena seems into fit right at home.

Minutes before they are standing here facing everyone they love most in the world Myka asked Pete to stand next to him. Claudia already waits in the spot where Helena's maid of honor should be. The young red head sports a green pant suit that not only brings out her eyes but makes her new haircut seem like her hair stands aflame. Pete is a little late in reaching up there but he blames Claudia for that, the coat of the tux she rented was apparently too lose, Claudia makes a crack about his eating habits to deflect blame. Pete just shakes his head, straightens the jet black coat he has wore to his own wedding and turns his attention to his partner at the other end of the aisle from him.

"Did I mention how gorgeous you look darling?" Helena whispers, lacing her fingers into Myka's.

"Plenty of times, but you could say again," Myka smiles.

"You are the more beautiful bride to grace this Earth in every century I have seen, and I have seen more than my fair share"

At that they both chuckle, a certain feeling of warmth seeping into their core and the pounding sense of doom pushed away for the moment.

They walk slowly and while everyone has their eyes trailed on the brides, Helena herself cannot tear her gaze away from Myka. The younger agent leans on her almost-wife, she does not want to look weary today of all days so she musters everything she has inside her and puts one foot in front of the next, allowing Helena to lead her.

The aisle consists of a white sheet laid out over the grass and a few rows of chairs on either side. The stage is simple but more elegant than either one of them could have imagined such a hastened event to be. There are flowers draped and strung over a metal grill. There is no step so everyone can stand and sit at the same level. Myka likes that. The occupants of the stark red chairs include Artie, Jeannie, Warren, Tracy, Jane Lattimer, even a few Regents that Myka cannot name at the moment. She can spot Adelaide in the back and is glad that the child Helena was so attached to could make it and even more so that her father let her, considering his history with Helena.

When they make it to the front they turn to face each other and wait for some kind of justice of peace to show up. What surprises both of them is that it is Mrs. Fredrick who walks up to stand behind in the space between them.

"Forgot I was supposed to be standing here"

She clears her throat and takes in both women standing before her.

"I am sure I can speak for everyone here when I say this, I never expected to be attending the wedding of the notorious H. G. Wells." This elicits a chuckle form the crowd and the bridal party. "But I also know that no two people deserve to me married more than Myka Bearing and Helena Wells. Their love may have had its ups and downs, as have their lives, but today they stand here a testament to the bond a person has with their one. I for one am immensely proud that their journey has brought them here. We are gathered here to bring together these two women in the most joyous union there could be: marriage. So now I will ask, Helena to recite her vows"

Helena takes a deep breath and takes Myka's hand into her own.

"Myka, I promise to love and to cherish you not just until the day we die but far beyond that. I am yours forevermore. Darling, no person I have met in any life I have lived could ever hold a candle to you. Our love, our romance, our story, it is something that will forever remain unparalleled. We are epic and star-crossed in every sense of the words. We defied the very boundaries of time to be here, standing up in front of all these people pledging our love and loyalty to one another. And no other love could ever be like ours, well unless another bronzed person is let loose and in a stroke of fate happens to chance upon their greatest love and redeems themselves and not even then. Because I have you. And no one else will ever have the pleasure of calling Myka Bearing their wife."

"Now I know one would probably expect more eloquence from the illustrious H. G. Wells. But darling, when I see you my words fall to puddles and my insides are putty in your hands. Love, for you, I would do anything and everything. I love you and today I am the happiest and luckiest woman in this world to be able to call you my wife."

Their eyes never leave each other's and they may hold it back for the fear of running their makeup, but their eyes are moist. The audience is much the same with Myka's mother reduced to tears running down her cheeks and a smile splitting her mouth wide.

"And now, Myka"

"Helena," Myka chuckles, "This is my childhood fantasy literally come to life. Who knew, right?" This elicits a smile from her bride and a laugh from the crowd, even Mrs. Fredrick. "I have been in love with you long before I ever met you. Your words have that effect. The first time I met you I thought _oh god this gorgeous ahem… evil woman my partners gun thrusted into his throat._ And before we knew it guns and blazes became our thing. I have tried to convince myself time and time again that I wasn't entrance by you. Clearly, I wasn't very successful. Because I was, am still. Even when I was trying to push you away you kept pulling and I kept letting you. The day you kissed me was-"

Pete's phone rings and as he slips it out to check the screen Myka sends a sharp glare his way that could freeze over the entire sun. Pete slowly edges out and rushes over to the far end of the garden to talk.

"As I was saying," She continues to glare in Pete's direction before returning her attention to the woman before her. "The day you kissed me was the day I undeniably knew I could never go back. There could be no one else who ever could or can take your place. And we've had our setbacks, world threatening setbacks, but I know this to be true today, I want to spend every second I have left by your side. I want to spend every waking breath I have to spare with you. Which is why I want to start my second life, however brief, right here with you as my wife for each second of it."

Irene wipes the corner of her eye.

Myka slips the necklace into Helena's hand.

"Do we have the rings?"

Claudia hands them over to both women.

"Do you Helena George Wells take his woman to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health until death do you part"

"I do"

Myka takes the gold wedding band in her hand and slips it onto Helena's finger in one easy motion, her smile brighter than the glistening ring catching the early morning sunrays.

"Do you Myka Ophelia Bearing take his woman to be your lawfully wedded wife in sickness and in health until death do you part"

"I do"

Helena takes the other half of the two piece wedding band set and slips it onto Myka's finger. She unclasps the necklace and goes to put it around Myka's neck when Pete comes running, his breath ragged from the strain of running too hard.

"Wait!" he pants, "Wait!"

"Don't tell me he is going to pledge his undying love to you, because it's a little too late for that" Helena rolls her eyes as they all turn to Pete.

Myka elbows Helena in the gut and Claudia holds back a giggle trying to imagine a world where Pete and Myka end up tying the knot.

"I just got a call,"

Myka frowns. "I know! My best man walked out of my wedding because his phone buzzed. A girl notices things like that."

"I found an artifact!" And for the first time in a while his eyes are ablaze with excitement and tangible hope.

"What does it do?" It is Claudia who asks the question, while the women at the altar stand stunned and the few members in the audience stare intently for him to answer.

"It cures Myka completely"

**Finally they got married! **

**But your mind is probably on the artifact, yes? What could it possibly be? **

**But more importantly, what is its price?**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know I'm an awful updater and I would give you more excuses but you probably know them all by now :| :] So sorry for the incredibly incredibly long wait, a little recap on the events:**

_Myka has cancer. She went to find HG and after a little screaming and yelling they ended up together fighting the disease. The chemo didn't work and they found an artifact that could cure Myka but limit her remaining days to a little over a week. Behind the scenes Helena was planning their wedding and they got married and almost used the locket only to be stopped by Pete who came running in claiming to have found something that could cure her completely._

**Now I probably shouldn't make you wait any more. So here it is:**

"You mean she can live?" Helena pauses her pacing to repeat the question she has now asked more times than any of them can count.

Pete nods.

"She is going to be alright?"

He nods again his patience wearing thin.

Myka places a hand on her wife's shoulder. Helena turns to look at her, a traitorous flame of hope shrouded behind her eyes. Myka tilts her head and an entire conversation takes place in the way that they eyes meet.

"Myka will be alright" Helena whispers. "I get to spend more than just a week with my wife."

Myka smiles. "Honey, you say wife like it's a habit you've settled into with practice that takes more than the four hours we've been married."

"Because I've been saying it for far longer in my head, love." Helena smiles back, placing a peck on Myka's lips.

"Ugh, get a room!" Claudia looks away with dramatic disgust.

Myka laughs pulling away, but letting her hand stay laced in with Helena's.

"So how does this work?" Myka finally asks the question that everyone has been dancing about since Pete came back panting. "I mean there has to be a catch right?"

"There is," Pete shrugs, "Of course there is."

Everyone waits for him to continue. Myka shifts her weight between both feet glad that she changed out of her wedding dress for this. The comfy sweats make her makeup seem over the top but she doesn't really care at this point. She is tired and she wants it to end one way or another.

Helena's previously gracefully messy hair is now almost in the process of becoming a nest. Her coat and vest are thrown over the couch, and she is happier than she has been in a long time with her wife by her side and the possibility of a future.

"Okay so I'm a bit fuzzy on the details, something about gods and Greeks, but this is how it works. So this guy believed certain memories can act as a separate being. If two people have a strong enough bond, also known as soul mates, their memories of each other can take on a separate life form that can restore life force. Or something like that."

"So wait soul mates exist?" Claudia exclaims.

"That is what you got from all of that?" Pete shakes his head.

"So what you're saying is the artifact will take my soul mates memories of me and restore my life?

"Well, not just theirs. It will erase both your memories. You go back to being perfectly healthy strangers."

Myka doesn't risk a glance in Helena's direction. But she doesn't have to in order to know what the other woman is thinking and already prepared to do.

"Okay-"

"No!" Myka cuts her off. "No! I am not dying without a single memory of falling in love with you."

"But Myka, you will be healthy, it is what matter most, doesn't it?"

"No, Helena. I married you because I wanted to spend my life with you. I don't want to go back on that, I don't want to go back on a single word I said to you and doing this, it does exactly that."

"Please Myka, at least pause to consider it"

"No!"

Pete clears his throat. "If you two are done arguing, allow me to continue." He waits for them to return their attention back to him. "The other half of the catch is you can never see the person again or you both die." He takes a deep breath, "You don't need Helena's memories." He pauses and Myka could swear she feels the air between them thicken. "A person can have more than one soul mate and it isn't always romantic in nature, I qualify just as well."

The silence that settles in is unbearably deafening, it stretches on for miles and wraps itself around them wringing their guts with that sense of doom that you can never quite place yet follows you around hounding you until you place it. And it doesn't take Myka too long to place it.

"I can't lose you, Pete"

"You have her," He motions towards Helena.

"But you're my partner"

"And she is your wife"

"You're my best friend" she whispers.

And Pete cannot help but felt a pang of jealously at how Myka was so quick to say no to Helena, but has yet to utter the word at his proposal. It makes him feel petty, and somewhere deep inside he knows he doesn't really feel like that, but that place is dug in deep covered by this basic human desire.

"I will always be your best friend"

"Not that either one of us will remember"

"I will not let you die if there anything within my power to save you, Myka" Pete shrugs. "I know you're the one usually winning the arguments but let me have this one, because I am not letting go."

Myka nods and no one else really says anything. The crowd gathered around them disperses and all that remains of their wedding party is plates of untouched fried chicken, pizza and French fries (the only half decent thing they could get in bulk at such short notice.) The drinks, however, are all poured out some even onto the floor leaving splotches of champagne. The punch is, of course, spiked – courtesy of Claudia – and everyone but Myka, Helena and Pete are a little tipsy at best.

When it seems like there are no more words for the moment Pete leaves the newlyweds alone. Walking away to get himself good and drunk at his partners wedding. He hates that the only bridesmaid was Claudia and he can't exactly hook up with here, and there he was always looking forward to the hot bridesmaids at Myka's wedding. Maybe Tracy – he cuts off his thought before it can finish itself.

Helena does not want to be the first to say something, but Myka's silence does not leave her with a choice.

"Well this isn't how I pictured the moments following our wedding to play out"

"Yeah, what'd you have in mind?"

"For starters, not quite as much clothing, if at all"

A blush creeps up Myka's cheeks as Helena pulls her in for a long, deep kiss her hands sliding low onto Myka's back. When they break apart Myka looks around to see if they have caught the attention of their remaining guests and is glad that they are busy mingling, talking about her impending fate and inevitable choice.

Helena starts to say something but Myka doesn't let the words come out.

"I know"

"I'll remember for you"

Myka smiles and nods. Helena leaves her, making her way through the crowd to find Pete.

"Pete, might I have a word?"

"Sure" He nods, raising his eyebrows.

"Someplace a little more private"

"Oh, alright"

They make their way inside the mostly empty B&amp;B. Helena makes sure that they are alone in the already empty kitchen.

"I have searched for artifacts to cure death for long enough to know that cannot be the entirety of the cost this artifact presents." Helena cuts straight to the chase. "Myka would have seen this flaw too, if she were not so thrown by your discovery."

Pete smiles. "Of course there is more, but it doesn't change anything and Myka cannot know"

"Quit stalling, Lattimer and tell me before Myka starts looking for either one of us."

"While I may not inherit Myka's disease with the artifact, I will end up with her remaining lifespan. See, the artifact cures her using our memories but her lifespan remains intact, in order to fix that we have me. The rest of my life and hey for all we know, my remaining life could be two days, I could get hit by a truck tomorrow so really Myka would be doing me a favor."

Helena lets Pete ramble on for as long as he needs to and then does something that catches him off guard. She covers the distance between them in one stride and pulls him in for a hug.

"Myka will never agree to this"

"Which is precisely why she will never know, she will forget me and what she can't remember can't hurt her"

"If she ever finds out"

"She has you, Helena, and as much as I hate to admit it with you Myka finally feels like she has everything she has ever needed or wanted. I see that in her eyes"

"What are you guys doing in here?" Myka walks into the room.

"Oh, I was just telling your woman here how lucky she got with you" he waves Myka over to sit with them giving Helena enough time to wipe the corner of her eye free of any moisture that may have formed over the course of their previous conversation.

"Were you now, well I think we both got pretty lucky"

Pete chuckles.

"You decided yet?"

"No"

"Well I think you should take the night off, go get laid in that honeymoon suite I got you in town and we'll talk more later"

Helena catches Pete's eye, she knows what he wants to say but cannot in the presence of the brunette. She understands. And her heart cannot help but act a little selfish, she is finally happy with everything she could want or need completely possible with Pete's sacrifice. But she also cannot push away the voice inside her head telling her Myka would hate her for letting this happen without her consent, or at all.

**Next one shall be up by the weekend :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**As promised.**

This is not how she pictured her wedding night to play out, but as Myka sits on the bed with her head in Myka's lap, the brunette's hand stroking her raven locks she cannot think of a moment more perfect than this.

They spent most of the night after Pete sent them away here, tucked away in a cozy hotel room with their limbs wrapped around each other, fully clothed; Myka in her sweatpants and Helena in the remains of her suit: a white shirt and her pants.

Their words are interspaced with silence that never seems too long, and is always filled in with adoring looks that may as well be conversations taking place in their own secret methods and their own far away worlds. Myka takes Helena's hand into her own and brings it to her lips. Helena's only reaction is a smile punctuated by a soft moan.

"This is kind of perfect, no?"

"Not kind of. Absolutely."

Myka chuckles.

"Yeah, absolutely."

"Myka, might I ask you something?"

"Of course, hon, you're my wife you never have to ask me to ask anything"

Helena smiles. She likes the word wife roll of Myka's tongue. "Had I not returned would you and Pete..?" She lets the question trail off.

"Would Pete and I?" Myka's face scrunches up at the look Helena is giving her. "Eew! No god! Ugh! No! I'm going to have to bleach my brain to remove that mental image. Ugh! He's like my brother, Helena, my brother." Myka stands up pushing Helena's head off her lap, shaking her head.

Helena smirks at Myka's reaction and jumps off the bed to follow her wife. She comes up from behind Myka and wraps her arms around the younger woman. They watch dawn unfold slowly through the ceiling to floor window pane. The view isn't much but it is decent for South Dakota. From their part of the hotel they only get a view of barren open space with a few structures thrown into the mix. Helena nuzzles Myka's neck eliciting a moan of approval from the other woman.

Helena turns around her wife and pulls her in for a kiss.

"I feel like we should be doing more of that." She pulls Myka over to the bed not breaking their kiss, and letting her land on top of her knowing full well how much the Agent loves being the top.

Myka takes the lead and deepens the kiss allowing her hands to roam territory that she has long since committed to memory. When they break apart for air Myka starts to work on unbuttoning Helena's shirt.

"Did I mention how sexy you looked in this suit," Myka bites her lower lip.

"You did actually"

"Well you'll look plenty sexy without it too"

"Oh that I can assure you of, Agent Bearing"

Myka cocks an eyebrow, "Cocky, are we?"

Helena pulls over her shirt and Myka's then proceeds to pull her back into a kiss.

She pauses. "Wait, you're okay to- you know"

"I just got married and I might get cured soon," Myka raises her eyebrows, "I'm not just okay, honey, I am ecstatic and right now I really want to just screw my wife until we are both so exhausted we can't lift a finger"

The prospect sets off a tingling in Helena's lower region, but the questions spinning in her mind win out.

"Wait, you've decided?"

Myka sighs. "I think so. I mean, I don't really think it was a decision to begin with right?" She pulls herself off her wife and settles down on the other side. "Look, I know how it sounds and I love Pete, I really do and I can't imagine never having known him because in so many ways he has changed and made me- different. And l love him. But"

"But" Helena raises her perfectly carved eyebrows already knowing full well what is coming next because it would be the exact same thing she would have thought had she not known better.

"But I can live and he can live and we can learn to work with it. We can manage working at the Warehouse, we can work out schedules. You and I can move, and work from away. We'll make it work, but the point is I get to live and I want to Helena. I really want to. I don't want to die. I know I've been saying its okay but I am afraid. And I don't want to die, not like this not if there is an alternative. And it sounds horrible, I know, but I am willing to give up my memories of my best friend if it means I get to live out my days with my wife."

"As somebody who is rather an expert at making horrible decisions and choices I can tell you one thing, Myka, it doesn't sound horrible to me. It is only a human desire to want to live."

"I don't want Pete to think I take our friendship lightly, I don't want him to think I am making this choice because it is easy to give him up. It is hardest thing that I will ever have to do."

"I think he knows, darling, and I think he would do far more for you."

"Well that killed the mood" Myka laughs breaking away from the subject.

Helena laughs. "There will be plenty of time for that," she replies pulling Myka closer so both women can cuddle up together on the king sized bed.


	22. Chapter 22

**Yes, you can call me a monster for my utterly awful updating habits. But in my defense I did write this chapter a while ago during my English final, which was probably not that smartest decision as they didn't let me take that scrap paper home. Oops! But I re-wrote it and hopefully it is better and worth the wait? I'm sorry (as always). Here goes:**

Myka decides to spend some time with Pete. If she is not going to remember him, she wants their last moments together to memorable, but even as she says that aloud she can see how ironic it is. Pete smiles when Myka proposes the idea of some alone time, he too, after all will be losing all memories of his partner. He can tie up his loose ends later.

Helena promises to remind Myka about Pete every day. She promises to never let her forget the man who will save her, but even as she makes her promises she can no longer bear to be with them. Helena does not recall the exact moment she went soft. The older H. G. Wells would have lied and deceived her way through this mess with swift ease. The older H. G. Wells would not have been thwarted by a guilty conscience of all things. She wonders, perhaps it is her wife that has made her soft, her love? But she knows it is not that, but the ordeal that this entire journey has been and perhaps in her quest to be better for Myka she has indeed grown a conscience.

While Pete and Myka make their way to the Warehouse for a day of inventory and little reminder of endless wonder Helena, Claudia and Steve take on an artifact chase, something that they haven't been keeping up with lately. Mrs. Fredrick drops by before they can leave and warns the only other people who know: Artie, Pete and Helena about the consequences and the repercussions, which of course involve the wrath of the regents. Though before she vanishes into the early morning air she does take a moment to rest her hand on Pete's shoulder and they know it is the closest thing to approval they are going to receive.

Myka and Pete laugh over old stories in the Warehouse office when Artie comes grumbling in. That is how the two of them find themselves on a plane on what is most probably their final artifact retrieval. The only reason Artie lets Myka go is that it is a simple retrieval op, but knowing those two he is sure things won't stay that simple. He hovers until they are securely in the SUV, asking Myka over and over if she is set to do this, if she has her medication, if she would rather be resting and Myka almost considers jolting him with the tesla just to make him shut up.

The plane ride is short; Pete tries to watch a movie but ends up staring out the window.

"We had better get this thing before I croak. God knows what mess you guys will make of the place without me."

Pete laughs. "We'll manage just fine. You go right ahead with the croaking"

Myka feigns shock and punches Pete in the shoulder. "You'd miss me"

"I would, but I'd get over it."

At that they both just laugh. With the imminent threat of death looming over their heads for so long, they mostly just feel numb to the initial shock by now.

Pete is the first to walk into the hardware shop. Myka on the other hand has to pause a moment, she leans against the door frame and catches her breath. Pete strolls in and straight into a decorative pile of cogs and nuts causing it to tumble down into a loud commotion.

Myka frowns at him but before she can reprimand him they come face to face with a woman holding a gun.

"If you're here for the oscillator you are not getting it," she waves her gun at the man she is holding in her other arm. "Gun. Floor. Now!" She barks pointing to the tesla in Pete's hand.

Pete follows her instruction and places the tesla carefully on the floor sliding it towards her.

"You are going to be fine, Thomas. It's okay" Pete nods trying to reassure him.

"Oscillator? Really?" Myka raises her eyebrows.

"Yeah so it can oscillate the life back into you," Pete makes a swaying motion. "I like it."

The woman frowns wiping the beads of sweat forming on her forehead with the back of the hand she has the gun in.

"There, against the wall. Move!" She motions for the two of them to go.

They both follow, as Myka notices distraction she pulls out her own tesla and fires it at the woman. Pete rushes to her and grabs the gun from her hand.

"Wow that was easy"

"Way too easy" Myka frowns.

"Maybe we've gotten too good at this."

"Maybe they've gotten worse."

Pete chuckles. "Could be that too"

He goes to check if Thomas is fine. Thomas nods and hands over the oscillator. "All yours, man"

"Thanks"

"We're even now, Lattimer"

"Yeah, we're square"

"Okay. I'll see you around"

"Not for a while. You take care of the wife and kids"

Pete shakes his hand and they both exit the store. Myka raises her eyebrows but says nothing.

They stay quite on the flight back. Myka holds tightly onto the only thing that has any chance of saving her anymore. Her grip is tight Pete can see her knuckles whiten. He says nothing about it. He doesn't ask her to put it down or in the bag.

When they return it is almost midnight and all Myka can think about is her bed. She just wants to sink into its warmth and let it swallow her whole. But when they enter the front door of the B&amp;B Myka finds herself on the receiving end of a stern glare from Jane Lattimer.

Myka walks in and shakes her hand. She smiles but before they can exchange pleasantries Jane cuts right to the chase.

"Myka, I know you. I know that you are not selfish. I know you are kind and caring and even selfless and that you love my son with all of your heart. I know this about you and I know that I am not wrong. I know that, Myka. Which is why the only thing that would makes sense is that you do not know, you do not know that you are taking away my child from me"

Myka takes step back and almost walks into Pete who has just entered the room. She turns to face him, her eyes brimming with betrayal.

"What?" She is not sure if the word actually left her lips or if she merely thought it to herself, but Pete backing away confirms what she has been denying ever since the magic cure came into play.

**Well this has officially veered wayyy off track. But I really like this fic which is why I can't let go. I hope I'm not jerking you around and if I am, I hope I'm doing it superbly if not in a timely fashion. This was supposed to be over quite a while ago, but-but it still has more to tell, right? I mean wtf is even happening anymore? Is she dying? Is she not? What?! I know how you feel :)**


	23. Chapter 23

"What?" Myka repeats with a quiver in her voice.

"Mom," Pete shakes his head, "this was my decision and it was already made. You had no right-"

"No right? No right? You are my son. My child! You are not dying, not on my watch."

"Not on mine either" Myka moves to stand besides Jane.

"Myka I can explain. We thought it would be better if you didn't know. You'd forget me anyway."

Myka pauses for a second letting the entirety of this betrayal sink in. It is only then that she realizes 'we' means Pete and someone else and the sinking feeling in her gut tells her who one of the other members of the 'we' is. Her wife, of course. Myka should have noticed the difference in Helena's demeanor. She should have known that look etched into her face since their wedding and the events following it. It was guilt. Myka had seen it enough times to know what it looked like by now.

"Did she always know?" The whisper is laced with a thick coat of caution, already afraid of the answer.

"Myka this is not on her. This is all me"

"Answer the question, Pete" Myka's voice is dangerously low and the then booms into explosion when Pete makes no move to give her what she already knows. "Answer the damn question, Pete!"

Pete gulps not wanting to subject Helena to the receiving end of that wrath. "She knows nothing."

"You're a lousy liar."

Myka storms off unsure if the tears running down her cheeks are from sheer rage or fear. She cannot understand how Pete could do something so stupid, how he could give her no chance at an opinion on the matter. But now that the oscillator is out question Myka is also afraid of the only other route left, because all this talk of hope and life has stripped her of her former bravado in the face of death.

Myka walks out into the backyard, pulls out her cell phone and dials her wife. When it goes to voicemail she decides to unload her fury there. "Helena you need to call me back the second you get this. You knew? You goddam knew it would kill Pete and you were going to let me do it? What were you thinking?" She yells for a good long while before the beep cuts her off.

Myka sighs.

Everything feels so wrong and she feels so tired. When she looks at the B&amp;B she can't help but remember all the great things that she's seen and done, everything that she has been a part of and to think it's all over already. She runs her hand through her short messy curls, she can't quite remember the last time she actually brushed them. Maybe there is a bright side to loping off most your hair.

She smiles.

When she feels faint she settles down onto the grass not bothered by how it will ruin her white shirt and khaki pants. The grass tingles and pinches her through the thin layer of clothing and leaves most of it damp with dew. Myka pulls out her phone again and calls Helena, only to once again find her voicemail. "Look what you did is horrible, but I'm tired Helena." Myka pauses afraid that another word will cause her to break down, but when the tears roll down anyway she continues.

"This is your fault. You made me hope, you made me want more. I was happy to just die in your arms surrounded by everyone I love most and now I'm mad at Pete but at the same time can't actually be mad at him because he was willing to die for me. My parents are more confused than ever. And I'm alone here with my wife thousands of miles away. And I'm scared. I want the house and the backyard and the screaming kids. And I'm scared because I won't get that. Don't let me die alone, hon. Come home soon okay, I love you. But this doesn't mean our talk is over. I miss you."

Myka likes that it is so cool out here so she lets herself be carried off into sleep.

Pete, on the other hand, has to face his very annoyed and outraged mother who is still pacing the living room unable to understand how Pete forgot everyone he would be leaving behind.

Pete keeps repeating his apologies and trying to make her understand that there is very little in this world that he would not do for Myka Bearing. When that doesn't work he resorts to yelling back.

"Look it's done, okay. There is no way she's going to go for it now. It done, mom. I'm going to lose my partner." he whispers the last part to himself making his way upstairs. He has learnt to give Myka time alone through a lot of experience, so he plans on checking in on her in the morning.

Pete sleeps restless and uneasy and come daybreak he heads straight for Myka's room. He isn't sure what the protocol is for these kinds of situations, but an apology seems like the safest bet.

"Myka, you up?" He knocks on her door. "Mykes, I'm sorry okay. Look I was doing what I had to. Myka? Hey are you in there?" When no one replies, he turns the knob to find an empty room and a bed that hasn't been slept in.

Pete heads downstairs to see if she might have fallen asleep on the couch. "Myka?" After he searches the whole place he goes out to check her car. "Myka where the hell are you?" He whispers under his breath turning away from his partner's SUV.

It is only when he goes out to the backyard that he finds her asleep on the ground. "Myka, what are you doing there, that place is filthy. You that eager to be put in the ground? Mykes?" He nudges her with his foot when that doesn't wake her Pete crouches down besides her. He can feel his pulse quicken. "Myka, please-" he puts two fingers to search for a pulse, a habit both he and Helena have formed over the last couple of months. Pete gulps and starts performing CPR knowing full well the cold that has crept into her skin isn't the early morning air. "Help!" He yells to wake up anyone in the house. "Myka, no. Please, no, please" he repeats over and over pressing down on her chest.

Artie comes panting followed by Mrs. Fredrick.

"Artie, call an ambulance." When Artie makes no move Pete turns to Irene. "Mrs. F? Please. We can't let her die. She can't die"

Artie crouches down besides Pete and Mrs. Fredrick turns away to make the necessary calls.

"Pete you can let go. It's okay." Artie takes Pete's hands away from the body. "Pete, let go." He pulls Pete away and covers the body with the robe he is wearing over his pajamas.

"Someone should call Helena." Pete whispers turning away from the woman on the ground. Artie nods.

He calls Claudia on the Farnsworth.

"We snagged it, on our way back now" Claudia pauses when she notices the grim line etched onto his forehead.

"Claudia can I talk to Helena alone"

"Is everything okay?"

Artie shakes his head and Claudia hands it over.

"Artie" The thick British voice is laced with caution.

"Get here as soon as you can."

"Where is Myka?" Helena does not let her voice break. "Artie? Where is my wife?"

Artie tilts his head to a side trying to keep his tears at bay. "Myka is dead, Helena. I am sorry."

Helena looks down at the phone in her hand. She raises it up and opens her mouth but no words come out. She had just heard the voice mails and she was sure it would not be the last time.

The raven haired time traveler looks up at Steve and Claudia. "Myka is dead. My wife is dead." Helena is not sure if she will ever be able to forgive herself for letting Myka die alone.

**So that is all. It has been great writing for all of you. You've been an awesome audience. Thanks for dealing with my annoying updating habits and sometimes draggy and twisty plotlines. Also, thanks a bunch for reviewing and continuing to read right to the very end :* This is my longest piece of work to date, so hopefully I'll be able to turn my attention back to some of my other works. Okay, then. Goodbye!**


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